Catalonia's Puigdemont to attend October extradition hearing

Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont is vowing to keep travelling throughout Europe to campaign for the region’s independence from Spain

ALGHERO, Sardinia -- Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont vowed Saturday to keep travelling throughout Europe to campaign for the region's independence from Spain but confirmed he would appear at an Oct. 4 hearing to decide whether he will be extradited to Spain to face sedition charges.

Puigdemont, a member of the European Union's parliament who previously served as president of Spain's restive Catalonia region, struck a defiant tone during a press conference 48 hours after he was arrested upon his arrival in Sardinia to attend a Catalan cultural festival and then freed.

The Sardinian judge who released him imposed no travel restrictions pending the Oct. 4 extradition hearing, suggesting Puigdemont had a green light to leave Italy and close the case. But Piugdemont said Saturday he would attend the hearing, “answer all the questions the judge will ask me," and assumed he would walk free.

“My plan is once the Italian justice says OK, your duty is finished, I will return to my home in Belgium," he said.