MADRID: Cheered by supporters, Catalonia’s separatist leaders arrived yesterday in Madrid to be grilled and potentially charged in another day of high drama in Spain’s crisis over the region’s independence drive, reports AFP. Notable by his absence, however, was dismissed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and four of his former ministers, in Belgium and refusing to come and potentially be locked up.

Puigdemont and 19 others involved in Catalonia’s rollercoaster secession push over recent weeks have been summoned to be questioned by Spanish judges in separate hearings at the National Court and the Supreme Court in Madrid on Thursday and Friday.

The first person to be questioned was Jordi Turull, the regional government’s former spokesman.

“You are not alone,” a group of around 30 people, mostly Catalan lawmakers, chanted while former regional ministers, dismissed on Friday as Madrid sought to get a grip on the country’s worst crisis in decades, arrived at the National Court.

But illustrating how the situation has fired up emotions around the country of 45 million people -- 7.5 million of them in Catalonia—around a dozen opponents of the separatists brandished red-and-yellow Spanish flags, an AFP reporter at the scene said. Rebellion and sedition - Puigdemont’s government organised an independence referendum on October 1 -- that heavy-handed Spanish police tried and failed to stop—which was followed by a declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament last Friday.

Later that day Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government dismissed the regional government and moved to impose direct rule on the wealthy northeastern region.

On Monday, Spain’s chief prosecutor said he was seeking charges of rebellion—punishable by up to 30 years behind bars—sedition and misuse of public funds against Puigdemont and 13 associates.