Catalan separatist Puigdemont evades capture on chaotic return to Spain

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00:00Spanish police set up roadblocks outside Barcelona in an effort to catch Catalonia's most wanted

00:07man.

00:08Earlier Thursday, Carles Puigdemont appeared at a rally in Barcelona for the first time

00:14in seven years of self-imposed exile.

00:18There, the Catalan separatists delivered a short speech, cheered on by thousands of supporters

00:25calling for independence.

00:29Despite their efforts, despite wanting to hurt us deeply, despite us having seen their

00:36repressive face, today we've come here to remind them that we are still here.

00:45We are still here.

00:47And we're still here because we don't have the right to give up.

00:54Moments later, Carles Puigdemont walked off stage and promptly disappeared, allegedly

01:00with the help of a local police officer and under the noses of the 300-strong police force

01:06that had gathered near the Catalan parliament to arrest him.

01:10The former Catalan leader has spent the last few years on the run in Belgium and France

01:15after the Spanish courts declared Catalonia's 2017 independence referendum illegal.

01:21The Spanish parliament passed an amnesty law in May, pardoning those involved in the

01:25failed secession bid, but the Supreme Court upheld an arrest warrant for Puigdemont for

01:30embezzlement related to the vote.

01:34The Catalan leader staged his comeback on the day that Catalonia's parliament is due

01:38to swear in a new president.

01:40After Puigdemont's party sank to its lowest position in May elections, a coalition agreement

01:46is set to bring the socialist Salvador Illa to power, to Puigdemont's dismay.

01:51For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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