BARCELONA, Sept 24, 2021 (BSS/AFP) - Catalonia's regional leader on 
Friday called for the "immediate release" of his exiled predecessor Carles 
Puigdemont, who was arrested in Italy the day before on charges linked to a 
failed Catalan independence bid. 

   "We demand the immediate release of Carles Puigdemont," Pere Aragones told 
a news conference in Barcelona, saying he would travel to Sardinia to "stand 
by" the former leader who led a Catalan bid to break away from Spain in 
October 2017.