A Spanish judge has issued an arrest warrant for ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four of his former councillors, all currently in Belgium, Spain’s high court said in a statement on Friday.
Puigdemont left for Belgium after Catalonia’s regional government was sacked by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy hours after the Catalan parliament made a unilateral declaration of independence on Oct. 27.
Puigdemont and his associates face charges of rebellion, sedition, misuse of public funds and breach of trust. The judge rejected the former Catalan leader’s request to testify via videoconference from Belgium.
His lawyer has said he did not trust Spanish justice, though he would co-operate with the Belgian courts.
Belgium will have a maximum of three months to decide whether to send Puigdemont back to Spain.
Ousted Catalan president speaks out from Brussels2:58
Nine members of his dismissed cabinet were ordered to be held in custody on Thursday pending an investigation and potential trial.
Earlier on Friday Puigdemont said he was ready to stand in a snap election in the region next month.
“I am ready to be a candidate… it’s possible to run a campaign from anywhere,” Puigdemont told Belgian state television RTBF, referring to the election called by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy following the unilateral independence declaration.
“We consider ourselves a legitimate government. There must be a continuity to tell the world what’s going on in Spain… It’s not with a government in jail that the elections will be neutral, independent, normal.”
In protest at the jailings, Catalan civic groups Catalan National Assembly and Omnium Cultural — whose leaders were imprisoned last month on sedition charges — called for a general strike on Nov. 8 and a mass demonstration on Nov. 11 .
One member of the dismissed cabinet, Santi Vila, was released after paying bail of 50,000 euros ($74,000 Cdn) on Friday. The other eight were not given bail and could remain in custody without trial for up to four years.
Catalonia in limbo as Spain’s direct rule takes hold2:21
Vila stepped down from the Catalan cabinet before Friday’s independence declaration, and while he remains a supporter of secession, he has been advocating a negotiated solution with the central government.
He has said he wanted to stand as the leading candidate for Puigdemont’s PdeCat (Catalan Democratic party) in the regional election.
Another six Catalan leaders are due to testify on Nov. 9 on the same charges.
Hundreds of thousands of pro-union residents march in Barcelona1:28
New boost
The detention of the secessionist leaders and Puigdemont’s flight to Belgium have given a new boost to the secessionist camp after cracks appeared in its ranks.
Thousands of people staged pro-independence protests on Thursday night in Barcelona and several Catalan towns, and parties forming the current coalition Junts Pel Si (Together For Yes) are pushing to run again on a joint ticket at the Dec. 21 election.
An opinion poll published on Tuesday showed Junts Pel Si would win the December election with 35.2 percent if the vote was held today and would likely reach a parliamentary majority if it stuck with its current pact with far-left party CUP.
A banner on a Catalan government building, and placards, read ‘Freedom Political Prisoners’ during a gathering in Barcelona’s Sant Jaume Square, on Nov. 3. (Susagna Guardiola)
Facing such a prospect, the Spanish government said on Friday it would have no option but to open talks within the law with those who held a majority.
“We could offer a new dialogue so that we can fulfill Catalans’ aspirations for more autonomy and look into reforming the constitution,” Foreign Affairs Minister Alfonso Dastis told French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview.
“Some even mention the idea of a federal model so that regions can have more autonomy, including financially.”
Catalonia’s pro-unionists rally against independence2:30