MADRID: The Spanish Supreme Court on Thursday said it had closed a treason investigation against Catalonia’s exiled separatist figurehead Carles Puigdemont over alleged Russian interference in the region’s failed 2017 secession bid.
The worst crisis Spain had experienced in decades saw the wealthy northeastern region hold a secession referendum and proclaim a short-lived declaration of independence whose aftershocks continue to reverberate.
A judge from a lower court placed Puigdemont under investigation for high treason to determine whether he had contacts with the Kremlin or tried to gain Russian support for Catalan independence in return for financial compensation.
The Supreme Court said in a statement it had “decided to close the proceedings” opened into the “alleged Russian interference in the Catalan independence process.”
Spain’s top court last year shelved a separate investigation against Puigdemont for a terrorism charge related to 2019 protests in Catalonia against prison terms handed out to separatist leaders for their role in the secession bid.
Puigdemont has lived in exile in Belgium since the crisis and remains Spain’s most-wanted fugitive as he was excluded from the remit of an amnesty law introduced by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s leftist government to heal tensions.
But his Junts per Catalunya party wields outsized influence in national politics as its seven MPs often determine whether Sanchez’s minority government passes legislation in the hung parliament.
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Spain closes Russia probe against Catalan separatist leader
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Spain closes Russia probe against Catalan separatist leader
- A judge from a lower court placed Puigdemont under investigation for high treason
- The Supreme Court said in a statement it had “decided to close the proceedings” opened into the “alleged Russian interference in the Catalan independence process“
Death toll in Karachi shopping plaza fire rises to 10 as search continues for dozens missing
- Mayor Murtaza Wahab said on Monday that four more bodies were recovered overnight, raising the death toll to at least 10
- The fire broke out late Saturday. According to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, families reported about 60 people missing
KARACHI: The death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, rose to at least 10 after rescuers recovered four more bodies from the badly damaged building during an overnight search for dozens of people reported missing, officials said Monday.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multistory Gul Plaza late Sunday nearly 24 hours after it erupted, allowing rescue teams to enter the building to rescue those trapped there. Mayor Murtaza Wahab said four more bodies were recovered overnight, raising the death toll to at least 10.
Local media reported that at least 14 people died in the blaze.
The fire broke out late Saturday and spread quickly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr. Abid Jalal Sheikh, the city’s chief rescue officer.
On Sunday night, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said families had reported about 60 people missing, prompting authorities to launch the search operation. Relatives of the missing gathered outside the heavily damaged building Monday, many in tears, witnesses said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said an investigation was underway.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, has a history of deadly fires, often blamed on poor safety standards and illegal construction. In November 2023, a fire at a shopping mall in the city killed 10 people and injured 22 others.
A massive fire at a garments factory in Karachi in 2012 killed 260 people.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multistory Gul Plaza late Sunday nearly 24 hours after it erupted, allowing rescue teams to enter the building to rescue those trapped there. Mayor Murtaza Wahab said four more bodies were recovered overnight, raising the death toll to at least 10.
Local media reported that at least 14 people died in the blaze.
The fire broke out late Saturday and spread quickly through shops storing cosmetics, garments and plastic goods, said Dr. Abid Jalal Sheikh, the city’s chief rescue officer.
On Sunday night, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said families had reported about 60 people missing, prompting authorities to launch the search operation. Relatives of the missing gathered outside the heavily damaged building Monday, many in tears, witnesses said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Police said an investigation was underway.
Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, has a history of deadly fires, often blamed on poor safety standards and illegal construction. In November 2023, a fire at a shopping mall in the city killed 10 people and injured 22 others.
A massive fire at a garments factory in Karachi in 2012 killed 260 people.
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