Sacked Catalan leader turns himself in
BRUSSELS: Catalonia’s sacked separatist leader, Carles Puigdemont, and four of his former ministers turned themselves in to Belgian police yesterday after Spain issued a warrant for their arrest.
The five, who face accusations of rebellion and sedition in Spain, were due to appear yesterday before a judge who will decide within 24 hours whether to detain or release them.
It is the latest dramatic development in the crisis unleashed by the Catalan separatists’ push for independence from Spain that sent shock waves across Europe.
Puigdemont and his allies fled to Belgium last Monday after Madrid sacked the Catalan executive and imposed direct rule on Catalonia following the regional Parliament’s declaration of independence last month.
“We were in regular contact with the lawyers of the five people and they agreed to turn up at the police station.
“They honoured that commitment,” Belgian prosecutor’s office spokesman Gilles Dejemeppe said.
Spain issued a warrant for their arrest on Friday after they failed to appear before a judge on claims of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds over the move to declare Catalonia an independent republic.
The judge in Madrid had, on Thursday, put Puigdemont’s deputy and seven other deposed regional ministers behind bars because of a risk that they would flee.
Puigdemont, 54, who insists that Catalonia earned the right to declare independence following a disputed referendum last month, had said on Friday that he was willing to cooperate with Belgian authorities.
But he said he was not convinced by guarantees of a fair trial back home, denouncing the “enormous pressure and political influence on judicial power in Spain”.
The ousted Catalan leader, who still describes himself as “president”, has also said he was willing to run as a candidate in Catalonia’s Dec 21 snap election.
“We want president Puigdemont to be the person who leads the big offensive we will carry out at the polls,” said Marta Pascal, spokesman for his Catalan European Democratic Party party. AFP