Spain issues arrest warrant for Catalan leader

A Spanish judge has issued an international arrest warrant for Catalonia’s ousted president a day after she jailed eight members of the region’s separatist government pending possible charges over last week’s declaration of independence, reports the Guardian. In the latest twist in Spain’s worst political crisis in four decades, a national court judge issued a European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont in response to a request from state prosecutors.

Puigdemont flew to Brussels earlier this week with a handful of his deposed ministers after Spanish authorities removed him and his cabinet from office for pushing ahead with the declaration despite repeated warnings that it was illegal. Puigdemont’s Belgian lawyer has already said his client will fight extradition without seeking political

asylum.Puigdemont was summoned to appear at Spain’s national court on Thursday to give evidence relating to possible charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds, but failed to appear. He has said he will only return to Spain if he is offered guarantees that the judicial process he will face will be fair.

In a written request to the judge, prosecutors said that Puigdemont and four other members of his administration were aware that they had been ordered to testify, but had chosen not to attend. Of the nine former ministers who did appear in court in Madrid on Thursday, eight were jailed.

The Spanish government has insisted that the jailings were not politically

motivated. Spain’s education minister, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, said the matter had been decided by a judge, adding the government was instead focusing on elections called by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for December.

 

Spain issues arrest warrant for Catalan leader

A Spanish judge has issued an international arrest warrant for Catalonias ousted president a day after she jailed eight members of the regions separatist government pending possible charges over last weeks declaration of independence, reports the Guardian. In the latest twist in Spains worst political crisis in four decades, a national court judge issued a European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont in response to a request from state prosecutors. Puigdemont flew to Brussels earlier this week with a handful of his deposed ministers after Spanish authorities removed him and his cabinet from office for pushing ahead with the declaration despite repeated warnings that it was illegal. Puigdemonts Belgian lawyer has already said his client will fight extradition without seeking political asylum.Puigdemont was summoned to appear at Spains national court on Thursday to give evidence relating to possible charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds, but failed to appear. He has said he will only return to Spain if he is offered guarantees that the judicial process he will face will be fair. In a written request to the judge, prosecutors said that Puigdemont and four other members of his administration were aware that they had been ordered to testify, but had chosen not to attend. Of the nine former ministers who did appear in court in Madrid on Thursday, eight were jailed. The Spanish government has insisted that the jailings were not politically motivated. Spains education minister, igo Mndez de Vigo, said the matter had been decided by a judge, adding the government was instead focusing on elections called by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for December.