A Spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant for ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont on Friday, one day after eight fellow members of the dissolved Catalan government were jailed in Spain.
The charges include sedition, rebellion, misuse of funds, abuse of authority and contempt. The other four people named in warrants are Toni Comin, Clara Ponsati, Lluis Puig and Meritxell Serret.
Belgian Prosecutor Eric Van der Sypt said he has received the arrest warrants for Puigdemont and the others.
“(I will) study them and will hand them over to the investigating judge either Saturday, Sunday or even Monday,” Van der Sypt told CNN in a telephone interview.
The issuance of the warrant for Puigdemont’s arrest was expected but still increases the tension between Catalan leaders and the Spanish national government, which so far has thwarted the independence drive.
Puigdemont and the 13 former ministers were ordered to appear before the Spanish high court. Of the nine former officials who showed up, eight were detained and one was freed on bond.
Puigdemont didn’t appear and issued a video message in which he called the court’s action “an attack on democracy.”
Spain was plunged into its worst political crisis in decade after Puigdemont’s administration held an independence referendum on October 1.
The Catalan parliament declared unilateral independence and Madrid responded by suspending the region’s autonomy, sacking the government and imposing direct rule.
Puigdemont and some of his former ministers turned up in Brussels early this week after Spain’s state prosecutor announced he would seek charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds against them.
The arrest warrant issued Friday also said Puidgemont will not be allowed to testify via videoconference from Belgium.
