A SPANISH judge has issued an international arrest warrant for ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four aides who were last seen in Brussels.
National Court investigating judge Carmen Lamela filed the request with the Belgian prosecutor to detain the five, and issued separate international search and arrest warrants to alert Europol in case they flee Belgium.
The move came after defiant Puigdemont signalled his intention to stand in the snap election called by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on December 21.
According to the judge, the five are being sought for five different crimes, including rebellion, sedition and embezzlement in a Spanish investigation into their roles in pushing for secession for Catalonia.
Puigdemont and his aides flew to Brussels after Spanish authorities removed him and his Cabinet from office on Saturday for demanding independence.
Speaking to Belgian public broadcaster RTBF, Puigdemont said globalisation would allow him to campaign from Belgium – without him having to return to Spain where he would face arrest.
And he said the jailing of his government was a “coup” against the poll and “a very serious attack on democracy”.
A day earlier Lamela jailed nine sacked members of the Catalan cabinet.
Spanish prosecutors were also reported to have received a request to outlaw all pro-independence parties in Catalonia – Puigdemont’s PDeCAT, ERC and CUP, a request said to have come from far-right Spanish party VOX.
In another development, one of the ministers jailed by National Court investigative magistrate Carmen Lamela – Business Minister Santiago Vila – was released after paying bail of €50,000 (£44,534).
Vila stepped down from the Catalan cabinet before last Friday’s unilateral declaration of independence, and has since been pushing for a negotiated settlement.
He has also indicated he would be prepared to lead PDeCAT into the December poll in the absence of Puigdemont.
On leaving a detention centre in Estremera, Vila called for political forces in Spain to “end the terrible situation” in Catalonia.
He said he was tired after a night in jail, but he and his colleagues were “well and calm.”
The 44-year-old told reporters outside the detention centre: “Disproportionate measures have been taken. I’m convinced democrats of the world do not understand it.”
Vila called on Spanish authorities, including Rajoy, to end the crisis: “Take action in the matter and take political initiative. This won’t be solved in courts, it will be solved with politics.”
A panel of judges, meanwhile, has rejected an appeal to release two Catalan pro-independence activists who are part of the sedition probe.
A spokesman for the National Court said Catalan National Assembly (ANC) president Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart, who leads the cultural group Omnium Cultural, would remain in a Madrid jail while the investigation continued.
Lawyers had argued they should be released because the political situation in Catalonia had changed since the probe began.
Madrid has been directly ruling Spain’s wealthiest state since its parliament passed the declaration of independence.
ANC and Omnium Cultural have spearheaded civil society efforts to achieve independence for the north-eastern region, which has a population of 7.5 million.
Sanchez and Cuixart were being investigated for allegedly orchestrating demonstrations that hindered a judicial investigation aimed at halting preparations for the referendum Rajoy had declared illegal. Protests have continued in the Catalan capital Barcelona since the ministers were jailed.
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