CATALAN LEADER FACES ARREST AFTER FAILING TO APPEAR IN COURT
▶ Former president’s colleagues appear before judge in Madrid – but he remains in Belgium
Spanish courts are likely to issue a European arrest warrant for former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont after he failed to appear at a Spanish court hearing yesterday.
Mr Puigdemont’s lawyer in Belgium, where he travelled with four members of his sacked cabinet, said the feeling in Spain was “not good” and his client wanted to take some distance but would co-operate with the courts.
“If they ask, he will co-operate with Spanish and Belgian justice,” Paul Bekaert said.
Spain’s prime minister Mariano Rajoy sacked Mr Puigdemont and his government on Friday last week, hours after the Catalan parliament made a unilateral declaration of independence following a referendum that was declared illegal by the Spanish courts.
Mr Puigdemont said on Wednesday that he would ignore a court order to return to Spain to answer charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds relating to the region’s secessionist push, unless it was guaranteed that any proceedings would be impartial.
He did not appear at the high court hearing yesterday.
“When someone doesn’t appear after being cited by a judge to testify, in Spain or any other EU country, normally an arrest warrant is issued,” said supreme court president Carlos Lesmes, who is also the head of the general council of the judiciary, Spain’s top judicial body.
An arrest warrant would make it almost impossible for Mr Puigdemont to stand in a snap election in Catalonia, called by the Spanish government for December 21.
The decision will be taken by a high court judge after the testimony of the remaining nine members of Mr Puigdemont’s sacked cabinet, including former vice president Oriol Junqueras.
Five senior regional parliamentarians and the speaker of the Catalan parliament, Carme Forcadell, were also summoned by the supreme court, which handles the cases of people who have parliamentary immunity.
The supreme court agreed yesterday to give one more week, until November 9, to Ms Forcadell and the Catalan politicians to prepare their defence.
By yesterday morning, five members of the dismissed Catalan cabinet had already testified before the high court judge, who is due to decide at the first hearing whether she starts a comprehensive investigation that could take years and lead to a trial.
She will also determine whether those called to testify should be held in jail while waiting for the investigation to finish.
The courts have already told the Catalan leaders to deposit €6.2 million (Dh26.5m) by today to cover any legal liabilities.
Cracks are already appearing within the pro-independence coalition of centre-right and far-left parties, as well as inside Mr Puigdemont’s own Democratic Catalan Party, where some of his allies now want a negotiated solution with the central government.
The struggle has also divided Catalonia. Two recent opin- ion polls showed support for independence may have started to wane.
But an official regional survey published on Tuesday showed 48.7 per cent of the 7.5 million Catalans believe the region should be independent, up from 41.1 per cent in June and the highest since December 2014.
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 against Mr Puigdemont and 13 associates.
Cracks are already appearing in the proindependence coalition, as well as inside Mr Puigdemont’s own party