Catalan ex-leader's capture in Germany sparks mass protests

Five months after going on the run from Spanish authorities, Catalonia's former president was detained in Germany on an international warrant Sunday by highway police after the ardent separatist crossed the border with Denmark.

FILE - In this March 18, 2018 file photo Catalan's fugitive ex-president Carles Puigdemont, takes part in a panel titled "Self-Determination", at the International Film Festival and Forum on Human Rights, in Geneva, Switzerland.  (Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP, file)

Police block the street as people, one with a Catalan independence flag, shout slogans outside the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, March 24, 2018.  (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Carles Puigdemont's capture, aided by Spanish intelligence services, sparked protests of tens of thousands in Catalonia's main city of Barcelona and other towns in the wealthy northeastern corner of Spain. Some of the demonstrators clashed with riot police, leaving more than 50 civilians and police officers injured and leading to four arrests. Puigdemont will appear before a German judge on Monday.

Spain was plunged into its worst political crisis in four decades when Puigdemont's government flouted a court ban and held an ad-hoc referendum on independence for the northeastern region in October.

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 12, 2018 file photo, ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont stands with elected Catalan lawmakers of his Together for Catalonia party at a park in Brussels. The lawyer for fugitive former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont says that he is being held by German police on Sunday March 25, 2018 when he was crossing the border to enter from Denmark. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 21, 2017 file photo ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont takes the podium at a gathering to watch the election results for Spain's Catalonia region at the Square Meeting Center in Brussels.  (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo,file)

The Catalan parliament's subsequent declaration of independence received no international recognition and provoked a takeover of the regional government by Spanish authorities that they say won't be lifted until a new government that respects Spain's Constitution is in place.

Spain's state prosecutor office said it was in contact with its German counterparts to carry out its request to extradite Puigdemont to Spain, where he faces charges including rebellion that could put him in prison for up to 30 years.

In Barcelona, riot police shoved and struck protesters with batons to keep an angry crowd from advancing on the office of the Spanish government's representative. Police vans showed stains of yellow paint reportedly thrown by protestors. Reinforcements were called in after several hours to clear the neighboring streets, with protestors tossing street barriers and burning two garbage bins as they retreated.

Outside the city center, groups of demonstrators cut off traffic on four different stretches of highways. Police also used batons to keep back a crowd of a few thousand who had gathered in front of the Spanish government's representative in the city of Lleida.

German highway police stopped Puigdemont on Sunday morning near the A7 highway that leads into Germany from Denmark, police in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein said.

FILE - In this July 5, 2011 file photo a truck passes the German-Danish border on highway A7 near Flensburg, Germany and Froslev, Denmark, The lawyer for fugitive former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont says that he is being held by German police. (Bodo Marks/dpa via AP,file)

A van with tinted windows which is believed to transport Carles Puigdemont, the fugitive ex-leader of Catalonia and ardent separatist, arrives at a prison in Neumuenster, northern Germany, Sunday, March 25, 2018. Puigdemont was arrested Sunday by German police on an international warrant as he tried to enter the country from Denmark. (Carsten Rehder/dpa via AP)

German news agency dpa said that Puigdemont was taken to a prison in the northern town of Neumuenster. Dpa photos showed a van with tinted windows believed to be carrying Puigdemont as it arrived at the prison. Video footage also showed the same van leaving a police station in Schuby near the A7 highway.

State prosecutors in Schleswig said that Puigdemont will appear in court Monday in the northern German town to confirm his identity. It said in a statement that "the question of whether Mr. Puigdemont has to be taken into extradition custody will then have to be determined by the higher regional court in Schleswig."

German state prosecutor Ralph Doepper told RTL Television that Puigdemont has been "provisionally detained. He has not been arrested."

The entrance building of a prison in Neumuenster, northern Germany, Sunday, March 25, 2018 where Carles Puigdemont, the fugitive ex-leader of Catalonia and ardent separatist, is believed to be held after he was arrested Sunday by German police on an international warrant as he tried to enter the country from Denmark. (Carsten Rehder/dpa via AP)

Pro independence demonstrators march during a protest in support of Catalonian politicians who have been jailed on charges of sedition in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 25, 2018. Puigdemont was arrested Sunday by German police on an international warrant as he tried to enter the country from Denmark. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

"We are now examining the further procedure, i.e. tomorrow we will decide whether we will file a provisional application for detention with the competent district court, which could lead to extradition detention later on," Doepper said.

A Spanish police official told The Associated Press under customary condition of anonymity that Spain's National Center for Intelligence and police agents from its international cooperation division helped German police to locate Puigdemont.

A Spanish Supreme Court judge reactivated an international arrest warrant for Puigdemont on Friday when he was visiting Finland. Spain has also issued five warrants for other separatist who fled the country.

Ines Arrimadas, the leader of the pro-Spain Citizens party which has the most seats in Catalonia's Parliament, said that the chaos on the streets was "of a society broken in two" by the secessionist movement.

Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police officers block the way to pro-independence supporters trying to reach the Spanish government office in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Emilio_Morenatti)

Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police officers stand amid smoke from a smoke bomb during clashes with pro-independence supporters trying to reach the Spanish government office in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 25, 2018.  (AP Photo/Emilio_Morenatti)

Arrimadas said: "Puigdemont knew that fracturing Catalan society into two parts, spending public money on illegal activities, provoking a political and institutional crisis without precedents and confronting a 21st-century democracy of the European Union was going to have consequences."

But the Catalan parliament speaker, the highest-ranking elected official in the region until it forms a government, made a televised address on Catalan public television to call for a united "democratic front" of political parties, labor unions and civil society organizations to respond to what he called "the thirst for revenge of the powers of the state."

Speaker Roger Torrent accused Spain's central authorities of "attacking the heart of democracy making a general cause against its political adversaries."

Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police officers detain a man during clashes with pro-independence supporters trying to reach the Spanish government office in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Emilio_Morenatti)

Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police officers clash with pro-independence supporters trying to reach the Spanish government office in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 25, 2018. Grassroots groups both for and against Catalan secession called for protests Sunday in Barcelona after Carles Puigdemont, the fugitive ex-leader of Catalonia and ardent separatist, was arrested Sunday by German police on an international warrant. (AP Photo/Emilio_Morenatti)

Miquel Coca, a business owner in Barcelona, likewise vowed that the secession push wouldn't falter.

"All the negative inputs that we have received help us to unite the society even more," Coca said. "If we can't have this leader, well, then there will be another. This is a movement of the people, not of one person."

Polls show Catalonia's 7.5 million residents are equally divided over secession, although a majority support holding a legal referendum on the issue.

Puigdemont, 55, is a former journalist and mayor of Girona who was thrust to the forefront of Catalonia's independence push when he was handpicked by predecessor Artur Mas to become regional president in 2016. He withstood intense political pressure from Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Spain's courts as he piloted the secession bid.

Spain had originally asked for Puigdemont's extradition from Belgium after he fled there in October, but later withdrew the request until Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena concluded his investigation this week. Llarena ruled that a total of 25 Catalan separatists would be tried for rebellion, embezzlement or disobedience.

Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police officers clash with pro-independence supporters trying to reach the Spanish government office in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 25, 2018.  (AP Photo/Emilio_Morenatti)

Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra regional police officers clash with pro-independence supporters trying to reach the Spanish government office in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, March 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In the meantime, Puigdemont was free to make trips to Denmark, Switzerland and Finland, as part of his effort to gain international support for the secessionist movement.

Puigdemont was also able to successfully run a campaign as the head of his "Together for Catalonia" bloc in a regional election in December in which separatist parties maintained their slim majority in Catalonia's regional parliament.

All told, Puigdemont has become enemy No. 1 of Rajoy's conservative government and Spain's justice system.

He had wanted to be re-elected as Catalonia's regional president — albeit while remaining abroad to avoid arrest — but eventually was stopped by a Spanish court.

Separatists in Catalonia are currently trying to elect a leader for the regional government before a two-month time limit is up and new elections are called.

Spain's Constitution says the nation is "indivisible" and any changes to its top law must be made by its national parliament in Madrid.

Nine people who promote Catalan secession have been placed in pre-trial custody to prevent what Llarena considered a flight risk or intention to continue with independence efforts.

Also, Spain's highest judicial authority condemned insults that appeared painted on the street near a house owned by Llarena in the Catalan town of Das. They called the Supreme Court judge a "fascist" and wrote the message that he is "not welcome in Das or anywhere."

Scottish police said Sunday that the lawyer of Clara Ponsati, a former Catalan regional minister also being sought by Spain, had been in contact and is preparing to be handed over to authorities. She had moved to Scotland from Belgium earlier this month.

Google has fired 28 employees in the aftermath of protests over technology that the internet company is supplying the Israeli government amid the Gaza war, further escalating tensions surrounding a hot-button deal.

The firings confirmed by Google late Wednesday came a day after nine employees were arrested during sit-in protests at offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California, after the company called police.

The dissent roiling Google centers on “Project Nimbus,” a $1.2 billion contract signed in 2021 that calls upon Google and Amazon to provide the Israeli government with cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.

The protests are being organized primarily by a group called No Tech For Apartheid. Google says Nimbus isn't being deployed in weaponry or intelligence gathering.

In a statement, Google attributed the firing of the 28 employees to “completely unacceptable behavior” that prevented some workers from doing their jobs and created a threatening atmosphere. The Mountain View, California, company added it is still investigating what happened during the protests, implying more workers could still be fired.

In a blog post, No Tech For Apartheid accused Google of lying about what happened inside its offices during what it described as “peaceful sit-in" that received overwhelming support from other workers who weren't participating in the protest.

“This flagrant act of retaliation is a clear indication that Google values its $1.2 billion contract with the genocidal Israeli government and military more than its own workers,” No Tech For Apartheid asserted.

Without calling out a specific incident, Google CEO Sundar Pichai indicated in a Thursday blog post that employees will be on a short leash as the company intensifies its efforts to improve its AI technology at a pivotal moment in the industry and, potentially, humanity.

“This is a business, and not a place to act in a way that disrupts coworkers or makes them feel unsafe, to attempt to use the company as a personal platform, or to fight over disruptive issues or debate politics,” Pichai wrote. “This is too important a moment as a company for us to be distracted.”

The contract raising the ire of some Google workers runs within the company's cloud computing division that is overseen by a former Oracle executive, Thomas Kurian.

Under Kurian's leadership, cloud computing has emerged as one of Google's fastest-growing divisions, with revenue of $33 billion last year, a 26% increase from 2022. A wide range of private-sector companies also buy Google's cloud computing services, in addition to governments around the world.

Google workers have periodically staged angry protests over other deals the company has been working on and have also raised ethical concerns about the way it is developing artificial intelligence.

One of the previous employee uprisings resulted in Google deciding in 2018 to end a contract with the U.S. defense department called “Project Maven” that involved helping the armed forces analyze military videos.

But Google has continued to thrive, despite the internal misgivings about the way it is making some of its money. Its revenue mostly comes through digital advertising sold through an internet empire that depends on its dominant search engine as its main pillar.

Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., posted a $74 billion profit last year and now employs about 182,000 workers worldwide — about 83,000 more people than in 2018 when it abandoned Project Maven.

The Google sign is displayed outside the Google offices in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Google has fired 28 employees who were involved in protests over the tech company’s cloud computing contract with the Israeli government. The workers held sit-ins at the company’s offices in California and New York over Google’s $1.2 billion contract to provide custom tools for Israeli’s military. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

Two people ride past the Google sign outside the Google offices in Sunnyvale, Calif., on Thursday, April 18, 2024. Google has fired 28 employees who were involved in protests over the tech company’s cloud computing contract with the Israeli government. The workers held sit-ins at the company’s offices in California and New York over Google’s $1.2 billion contract to provide custom tools for Israeli’s military. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)

FILE -- A sign is shown on a Google building at their campus in Mountain View, Calif., on Sept. 24, 2019. On Friday, April 12, 2024, Google announced it was testing removing links to California news websites from some people's search results. The search giant said it was preparing in case the Legislature passed a bill requiring it to pay media companies a fee for linking to its content. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Google fires 28 workers after office sit-ins to protest cloud contract with Israel

Google fires 28 workers after office sit-ins to protest cloud contract with Israel