Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
Updated 4.15pm
FORMER CATALAN LEADER Carles Puigdemont and four ex-ministers have handed themselves in to police in Belgium, according to prosecutors in Brussels.
Puigdemont and the former ministers were taken into custody to start the process of their possible extradition to Spain.
The five presented themselves to federal police at around 9am (8am Irish time), Brussels prosecutor’s office spokesman Gilles Dejemeppe said.
He said they haven’t been arrested and that Puigdemont and the four members of his disbanded Cabinet will be heard by an investigative judge later today.
The Belgian judge will have to decide within 24 hours what comes next for the five separatist politicians wanted in Spain on suspicion of rebellion for pushing through a declaration of independence for the northeastern Catalonia in violation of Spain’s Constitution.
Rebellion, sedition and embezzlement
A Spanish National Court judge issued warrants for the five absconded lawmakers on suspicion of five crimes, including rebellion, sedition and embezzlement, on Friday — a day after the same judge sent another eight former Catalan Cabinet members to jail without bail while her investigation continues.
A ninth spent a night in jail and was freed after posting bail.
Puigdemont wrote in Dutch in his Twitter account yesterday that he was “prepared to fully cooperate with Belgian justice following the European arrest warrant issued by Spain”.
An opinion poll published by Barcelona’s La Vanguardia newspaper today forecasts a tight electoral race between parties for and against Catalonia ending ties with the rest of Spain.
The poll predicts that pro-secession parties would win between 66-69 seats. They won 72 two years ago. Sixty-eight seats are needed for a majority.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
“The men had fled to Belgium”
I don’t think they ‘fled’. They went to put their case/story. Now that they’ve done that, they are submitting to an arrest warrant. Doesn’t sound like fleeing to me.
@Father Hody Commody: sounds like a bit of favorable framing by MSM for spanish establishment you are just right, Brave lads the catalan leaders, hope they are treated fairly by spanish government who sent police to beat peaceful catalan voters …oh wait erm
@Father Hody Commody: Ridiculous comment……they just fled because they are afraid of jail knowing they shouldn’t have ignore the order from Madrid…..now expect 30 years in jail.
@Thosj Carroll: no his comment has a strong point by handing themselves in internationally it places more pressure on EU bodies to insure they are treated more fairly as a pose to being arrested by spanish police who beat peaceful voters
@Father Hody Commody: He has handed himself in because otherwise he would have been arrested by the Belgium police, that’s how EAW works, the person needs to be in police custody before a judge can be assigned to the case. He has asked for a Dutch speaking judge as advised by his legal team… his lawyer is an expert in blocking extraditions and l imagine that’s what he’s going to try to do.
@Matthew O’Kane: There are no ‘EU bodies’ involved. The EAW is exclusively conducted between the judiciary of the two countries.
The Catalan leaders should at least be free to campaign in the election due on December 21st …Most likely they won’t get a majority in the Catalan parliament….Putting them in jail won’t help Madrid cause….
@John003: Opinion polls are predicting a victory for pro-independent parties.
@Jindrich Marz: They would need a landslide to break with Spain…..Like DeValera and Sinn Fein got in 1918 election….
@John003: Why would they require a landslide? Anyway the 1918 election wasn’t recognised by the British. It preceded five years of bloodshed and ended with the country being partitioned, illegally some would argue.
@John003: They are free to campaign for the elections, the goverment has already said that. The problem is the courts and the goverment work independently. The Rajoy goverment are not happy about the court decision to put them in prison as it will be bad for them in the elections in december, and are hoping the supreme court will take over the case in the next two weeks, as they have a less strict approach.
@John003: why would they need a landslide? Does majority not rule in the Spanish “democracy”?
@Fox: from what I read there needs to be Spanish referendum not a Catalan one. I might be wrong. But in reality the whole picture needs to be painted and the impact on people. They will take a percentage of Spanish debt, out of the EU making trading a lot more difficult etc. Did Puigdemont have those conversations I wonder? He got a flight quick enough out of Spain – no problem getting back
What a mess, a great pity the whole thing. Hope it turn out ok for everyone in that part of the world.
@KerryBlueMike: These people who whip up a frenzy especially in young people whether it’s for nationalist or religious reasons are not usually the ones who get hurt or even killed,
This criminal used children and elderly people as human shields to impose a referendum for which he didnt have support from the majority of catalans. Jail him please!
@La Massa: If you jail everyone for being unpopular, who gets to choose?
@Fiona Fitzgerald: They’re not being jailed fod being unpopular, that was not the charge.
@La Massa: Imposing a referendum is an oxymoron. Furthermore, you only need a shield if you are being attacked. Nobody expected to be attacked on a quiet Sunday when going to vote in a local school. Nobody used children nor the elderly as shields. Children and elderly were living their lives when suddenly police and civil guard in riot gear appeared en masse to attack them. An attack wasn’t necessary. Had the Police simply stepped through the crowd they would have achieved what they wanted which was to take away the ballot boxes, a pathetic gesture in itself. They could have dismissed the referendum as illegal and tried to apply politics. But, hey, that’s not the Popular Party’s style.
@Ruth Murray: the referendum was illegal, had no voter list and was a farce. If the Irish authorities ran a GE or referendum like that no doubt you wouldn’t be impressed.
@lavbeer: Yes, there was a voter list. Yes, it was illegal. No, I wouldn’t be impressed, no. However, I am not impressed with Spanish police violence, imprisonment of an elected government, imprisonment of people who held peacfeul demonstrations, of shutting down websites because they post a message the government doesn’t like, of firing the Head of Catalan Police for protecting civilians … oh and the latest, 8 teachers in Catalonia have been called to court for disussing Catalan politics in class. So, no. I am not impressed at all.
@Ruth Murray: and had the law of the land been respected the police incident wouldn’t have happened (and this is not excusing them) but you can’t steer the course of a nation by that.
There was no voter list and this is managed by a Spanish government department which of course refused to hand over personal information like this to an illegal referendum.
@lavbeer: if the laws of the land were always followed we would not be in a Republic and many other countries around the world wouldn’t exist as they do today…
@Ruth Murray: Yes, and regardless of the unofficial status of a peaceful turnout, all of those people are voters and citizens. Also Reuters reported not only Spanish police beating voters but Spanish police using rubber bullets on voters. Not an impressive display at all.
@Thomas Quinn: do you not think the world have moved in the last 100 years? Let’s be totally honest- has the Brits not hung the leaders of 1916 – the catalyst for Irish independence may not have happened.
@lavbeer: They were shot.
@lavbeer: Are you thinking of Robert Emmet? The 1916 leaders were shot.
@Fiona Fitzgerald: “Hung, drawn and quartered, sure that was my sentence, but soon I will show them no coward am I. My crime was the love of a land I was born in, a hero I’ve lived and a hero I’ll die”.
Brave lads, hope they are treated fairly by spanish government who sent police to beat peaceful catalan voters …oh wait erm
@Matthew O’Kane: Brave?They created the mess then ran away when the going got tough. The Spanish Government will have no say in what happens to them that is up to the judiciary who are investigating their crimes.
@Richard Keogh: no they handed themselves into an EU authorities rather than directly to spanish authorities who cover for and condoned beating peaceful voters if you think harder about it it makes sense, good move for EU justice and puts pressure on EU to do the right thing for human rights and democracy.
@Matthew O’Kane: the Belgian authorities- not the EU authorities.
Unfortunately for the independents they didn’t have enough conviction (or perhaps enough backing from the majority) to do things in the right order and then their going to Belgium looked more like they were evading responsibility than taking it up.
Good move Calimero.
@La Massa: The PP equivalent of the Frape Room has arrived!
¡Viva Franco!
Many ignoramuses in Spain criticised Ireland for voting marriage equality. Why do they need to vote for this, they asked. This should just be their right blah blah. Of course, they just don’t know that the Irish Constitution required such vote.
Well, surprise surprise. In order for Catalonia to secede legally, a referendum in the whole of Spain must be passed to allow such constitutional amendment.
This is not down to “Rajoy being a fascist”, he isn’t, or anything else you want to image. It is the law. End of story. Any government trying to illegally bypass the mechanism that regulates Spanish constitution would be jailed.
@Alfonso Armenta Fernández: So you’re saying that a veto is built into the Spanish constitution? Not very democratic and effectively rules out independence for any region under Madrid’s control.
Madrid made a mistake giving control of education to the regions . The pro separatists have indoctrinated the youth for the 20yrs. The movement is built on greed, they want to stop supporting poorer provinces .
The actions of Madrid are certainly ham fisted.i have a feeling that corruption by the separatists leaders will be exposed just prior to the election.
@Michael Curran: 20 years? 68 years since the Spanish Civil War. People have long memories.
If the Catalan people want independence then they will get independence. Regardless of what Madrid thinks. It may take a year, a decade, a century, but it will happen. You cannot imprison a people forever.
If the Spanish government believe this is a rebellion then maybe Catalan needs to give them some martyrs!
@winston smith: Go easy there. That van attack in Barcelona caused 16 deaths and injured 130 people. I think they want to do this peacefully.
A martyr does not require mass violence and I wasn’t suggesting such.
I hope they will be given asylum in Belgium. Otherwise they will be thrown in jail for 30 years!! Franco’s spirit lives on !!!
have your say