Carles Puigdemont

Under Carles Puigdemont, Catalan separatists held a successful independence referendum. He went into exile when central authorities cracked down on separatists.

Puigdemont — a world-savvy former journalist conversant in English, French and Romanian — has dedicated much of his political career to Catalan liberation. He fled after Spain's brutal crackdown on voters during Catalonia's successful independence referendum and was eventually nabbed by German authorities. Here's a roundup of DW's content on Puigdemont.