JAIL FOR CATALAN LEADERS
Spain ‘issues warrant’ for President
SPAIN has jailed eight Catalan leaders and reportedly ordered an arrest warrant for fugitive president Carles Puigdemont.
Puigdemont, who declared independence last week, has fled to Belgium and refused to appear in court on rebellion and sedition charges.
In a message broadcast late last night on Catalan TV he said: “As the legitimate president I demand the ministers be freed.”
He offered the eight “all my support and that of millions of people around the world who are watching, astonished, at what is happening”.
And he went on: “We can’t give up. We must fight without violence, with peace and respect for all opinions.
“It’s a very serious mistake, a serious attack on democracy.”
Yesterday’s shock move sparked fury among separatists in the semiautonomous region.
Last night crowds shouted “Out with the Spanish police, out with the occupation forces” at national police guarding a Barcelona court building.
Catalan police stationed themselves between protesters and the national officers.
The eight jailed leaders, six men and two women, had been summoned to Madrid on charges of rebellion and sedition.
Five other senior members of the Catalan parliament, as well as the Speaker, face the same charges and will learn their fate next week.
Mr Puigdemont has said he will return to Spain only if guaranteed of a fair hearing. The arrest warrant means he will be unable to take part in next month’s snap regional elections called by Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy. He took the “nuclear option” of sus pending the Catalan government and im - posing direct rule after Mr Puig demont an - nounced independence. The declaration fol - lowed the October 1 referendum, violently disrupted by Spanish national police, in which 90% of those who voted backed a breakaway. In an emergency Com mons debate Sha dow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said Labour stood with socialists across Spain calling for “peace and dialogue”. She added: “What we are seeing in both Spain and Catalonia is far from peaceful.
“From Madrid we see the use of officially sanctioned violence and intimidation by the police, scenes that are horrific to watch.”