Carrasco was escorted out of the room by members of Spain’s security services, who then tried to prevent reporters from filming any more of the incident before the young activist was handed over to Belgian police.

Carrasco in exile to avoid arrest

In November, Spain’s National Court ruled out terrorism charges for Carrasco and another member of the pro-independence Committees for the Defense of the Republic, ordering they instead be tried for disorder offenses in the Catalan courts.

However, by that time Carrasco was already in Brussels, where he had appeared in September explaining that he had chosen to avoid arrest and go to Belgium because “in Spain there are no guarantees of a fair trial.”