Axed Catalan leader summoned to Spain court

BRUSSELS: Spain’s top criminal court summoned Catalonia’s axed separatist leader for questioning, hours after he appeared in Brussels insisting he remained the “legitimate president” of a region now under direct rule from Madrid.

The National Audience in Madrid, which deals with major criminal cases, summoned Carles Puigdemont and 13 other former members of his administration, dismissed by Spain’s central government last week, to appear today and tomorrow.

They are then set to be placed under formal investigation.

On Monday, Spain’s chief prosecutor said he was seeking charges of rebellion – punishable by up to 30 years behind bars – sedition and misuse of public funds.

But Puigdemont, 54, is in Brussels, where he surfaced after reportedly driving to Marseille in France and taking a plane to the Belgian capital.

At a packed and chaotic news conference on Tuesday, Puigdemont said he was in Brussels “for safety purposes and freedom” and to “explain the Catalan problem in the institutional heart of Europe”.

He denied that he intended to claim asylum but said he and several other former ministers who travelled with him would return only if they have guarantees that legal proceedings would be impartial.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said that during Puigdemont’s time in the country he would be “treated like any other European citizen” with “the same rights and responsibilities”.

Two former ministers flew back to Barcelona late on Tuesday where they were greeted by a small group of demonstrators who waved Spanish flags in their faces and shouted “traitors!” and “Viva Espana!” at them.

If Puigdemont fails to appear in court as requested, Spanish prosecutors could order his arrest.

His lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas complained in a Tweet that Puigdemont had not been “given time to prepare the defence”.