Former Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, was arrested last week while entering the Italian island of Sardinia.

Under his mandate, an illegal referendum was organized on Oct. 1, 2017 in which the Catalans were asked if they wanted to become independent from Spain. He then fled to Brussels and lives in exile from there. On Monday, Oct. 4, the Sardinian court heard him and must decide on extradition.

Puigdemont arrived in Sardinia again on Sunday, Oct. 3. His Italian lawyer trusts that his client will not be sent to Spain, where he is scheduled to be tried for embezzlement and sedition.

His comrades in government who decided not to flee in 2017 and faced justice, were sentenced for the same crimes to between nine and 13 years in prison. The Spanish executive granted them a pardon this past Summer.

The arrest of the former president occurred as Spanish and Catalan governments had just started a long-awaited dialogue after years of disagreement. If Puigdemont is extradited to Spain, it is very likely that the Catalan pro-independence executive will decide to abandon that conversation.

The former Catalan president declared the independence of Catalonia in October 2017 and fled to Belgium immediately after. From there, he ran for European elections and won a seat as an MEP, and immunity. But a plenary session of the European Parliament voted in favor of withdrawing that favor, which is what has allowed him to be detained in Italy.

While Spanish judge Pablo Llarena demands that Italy hand over Puigdemont to Spain, the former president's lawyer is "convinced" that this will not happen. He also believes that Puigdemont and the rest of the pro-independence MEPs who fled after the referendum should be able to return to Spain.

But at the moment, it doesn't seem like any part of this story is ready for it.