Belgian judge releases Catalan ex-president
BRUSSELS (Reuters) — A Belgian judge has released ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his ministers under certain conditions after a hearing lasting more than 10 hours, Belgian broadcaster VRT reported late on Sunday.
Puigdemont, who faces charges of misuse of public funds, disobedience and breach of trust relating to the secessionist campaign, turned himself in to Belgian police earlier on Sunday.
The judge decided to grant the five people conditional release pending a ruling by a court on whether to execute the European arrest warrant issued by Spain,
VRT said. Madrid has taken over administrative control in Catalonia, until then an autonomous region, and called new elections on Dec. 21.
Two polls on Sunday suggested pro-Catalonia independence parties will together win December’s regional election although they may fall just short of a majority of seats in parliament needed to revive the secession campaign.
Parties supporting Catalonia staying in Spain would divide seats but garner around 54 percent of the vote, the polls suggested.
Puigdemont traveled to Belgium shortly after Madrid took control.
On Sunday morning, Puigdemont and four of his former councillors presented themselves to police in Brussels.
A judge will hear the defendants case on Sunday afternoon and has until this week to decide whether the formalities for the extradition request have been fulfilled.
According to a GAD3 survey of 1,233 people conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 3 and published in
La Vanguardia newspaper, pro-independence parties ERC, PDeCAT and CUP would take between 66 and 69 seats in the 135-seat parliament.
A second poll taken over the same period for the conservative newspaper
La Razon echoed the GAD3 survey, showing pro-independence parties would capture the most votes though still fall just shy of a parliamentary majority with 65 seats.
Other seats would be generally divided between parties that support the region remaining as part of Spain, though they would run on separate tickets.
Voter participation, however, will rise to a record of 83 percent, the GAD3 poll showed.
Under the European arrest warrant system, the five defendants in Belgium can agree to an extradition order immediately or the judge can set bail or detain them. Belgian authorities have to inform their European counterparts if a European arrest warrant cannot be executed after 90 days.