“It (Uluru) is an extremely important place, not a playground or theme park, like Disneyland.”
SAMMY WILSON, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park Board chairman
SPAIN’S top criminal court summoned Catalonia’s axed separatist leader for questioning, hours after he appeared here, insisting he remained the “legitimate president” of a region now under Madrid’s direct rule.
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 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 here, where he surfaced after reportedly driving to Marseille in France and taking a plane to the Belgian capital.
On Tuesday, he said he was here “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 former ministers who travelled with him would return only if they had guarantees that legal proceedings would be impartial.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said 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 on Tuesday, where they were greeted by a group of demonstrators who waved Spanish flags in their faces and shouted “traitors!” and “viva Espana!”.
If Puigdemont fails to appear in court as requested, Spanish prosecutors could order his arrest.
His lawyer, Jaume AlonsoCuevillas, complained on Twitter that Puigdemont had not been “given time to prepare the defence”.
The National Audience gave Puigdemont and his former ministers three days to pay a combined deposit against potential penalties of €6.2 million (RM30.5 million).
Puigdemont’s departure and the court’s announcement are the latest twists in the saga over semiautonomous Catalonia’s drive for independence, which has sparked Spain’s biggest crisis in decades.
With its own language and distinct culture, Catalonia, which accounts for a fifth of Spain’s economy and 16 per cent of its population, is deeply divided over independence.
On Oct 1, the region held an unregulated referendum, marked by a heavy-handed operation by Spanish police, in which a large majority voted in favour of seceding from Spain.
But, Spain’s top court had ruled the plebiscite illegal, and turnout was just 43 per cent. AFP