Overview

• Carles Hernández testified that officers chose not to detain Carles Puigdemont before his August 2024 speech to avoid public disorder and prioritized securing the Parliament during Salvador Illa’s investiture session.
• He described a deliberate “encapsulation” by Junts’ entourage that misled police into believing Puigdemont was walking toward the Parliament while he exited by car.
• Operational lapses included a misidentified vehicle model and license plate and radio communications saturated to the point an alert could not be sent.
• Three Mossos remain under criminal investigation for alleged coordinated assistance in the escape, an inquiry opened after a complaint by Hazte Oír and running in parallel to Internal Affairs’ probe.
• Hernández said intelligence services in several countries, including France, had been consulted and indicated Puigdemont was likely to try to enter the chamber, and he maintained the broader security device met its public-order goals.