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"It's been nine hours since Oriol Junqueras should have been released." That was how Carles Puigdemont began his reaction to today's ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Speaking from the Catalan government's delegation in Brussels, the former Catalan president said: "First and foremost, we insist that Oriol Junqueras must be freed immediately, that an investigation be conducted into the malpractice of the Spanish justice system [...] and that the sentence [against Junqueras and other leaders] be annulled immediately".

Puigdemont said that the European court has "provided the guarantee of protection of the fundamental values of democracy that we have always respected and placed our trust in". He said the "historic ruling" will "reinforce the founding values of the Union" and mentioned himself and Toni Comín, present alongside him at the press conference, being banned from the European Parliament. That ban was lifted a short time later​.