Prosecutor asks for arrest warrant
MADRID—A Spanish prosecutor asked a judge Thursday to issue an international arrest warrant for the former president of Catalonia and four of his ministers after they failed to appear in a Madrid court for questioning about their efforts to break the region away from Spain.
Meanwhile, the same judge, Investigative Magistrate Carmen La mela, sent eight former Cat alan Cabinet members to jail without bail and ordered another to be held pending a $58,300 bail payment.
The ruling was made at the request of prosecutors after the nine were questioned at the National Court in Madrid.
Also Thursday, six Catalan lawmakers appeared for a parallel session in the Spain Supreme Court. They were given a week to prepare their defences and instructed to return for questioning on Nov. 9.
In all, 20 regional politicians are being investigated on possible charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement for a declaration of secession made on Oct. 27. The crimes are punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and his 13-member Cabinet were among those summoned to Spain’s National Court for questioning. Puigdemont surfaced in Belgium on Tuesday with some of his ex-ministers, saying they were seeking “freedom and safety” there. He and four of the officials remained in Brussels, Belgium, on Thursday.
Spain took the unprecedented step of triggering constitutional powers allowing it to take over the running of Catalonia following the region’s declaration of independence.
Madrid dismissed the Catalan cabinet, dissolved the regional parliament and called a new regional election for Dec. 21.
Javier Melero, a lawyer representing some of the separatist lawmakers investigated in the Supreme Court, criticized Puigdemont and the four ministers who skipped court. He said their actions would be damaging for his clients, three lawmakers who are members of Puigdemont’s PDeCAT party.
“Not being at the service of the judiciary when you are summoned is always damaging for the rest of those being investigated,” Melero said.