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Sacked Catalonia leader turns himself in to Belgian police

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BRUSSELS/MADRID/BARCELONA: Sacked Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont and four associates turned themselves in to Belgian police on Sunday, following Spain’s issuing of an arrest warrant for rebellion and sedition.


All are wanted by Madrid for actions related to the push for the region’s secession from Spain. Puigdemont has become the public face of that move for independence.


Other charges are the misuse of public funds, disobedience and breach of trust relating to the secessionist campaign, which has thrown Spain into a political crisis just as its economy has recovered from a sharp downturn and banking stress.


Madrid has taken over administrative control in Catalonia, until then an autonomous region, and called new elections on December 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 per cent of the vote, the polls suggested.


Puigdemont travelled 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 Monday morning to decide whether the formalities for the extradition request have been fulfilled.


According to a GAD3 survey of 1,233 people conducted between October 30 and November 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 per cent, the GAD3 poll showed.


POLITICIANS ON REMAND: 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.


On Saturday, Puigdemont — who PDECat said on Sunday would lead the party in the election — called for a united Catalan political front for independence from Spain and against the detention of his former members of government.


On Thursday, nine of his sacked cabinet were ordered by Spain’s High Court to be held on remand pending an investigation and potential trial.


One member of the dismissed cabinet, Santi Vila, was freed after paying bail of 50,000 euros ($58,035) on Friday. — Reuters


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