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Spanish Government Indict Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, Who Fled to Belgium, Imprison Ministers

November 4, 2017 

Deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont during a press conference in Brussels, November 4, 2017	Catalan employees protest against the Spanish direct control of their ocuntry, November 2, 2017

 

Deposed Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, says he is “fully prepared to cooperate with Belgian judiciary”

The Belgian prosecutor received an arrest warrant for deposed Catalan president and ministers currently in Brussels

04 November 2017 03:54 PM

by ACN | Barcelona (http://www.catalannews.com)

The deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont said that he is “fully prepared to cooperate with Belgian judiciary” following the European arrest warrant issued by Spanish prosecutor. Thus, deposed Catalan president will appear voluntarily before the judge.

National Court Judge Carmen Lamela issued a European arrest warrant for the for deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and his four dismissed ministers in Belgium, Antoni Comín (Health), Meritxell Serret (Agriculture), Clara Ponsatí (Education) and Lluís Puig (Culture).

The Spanish Prosecutor’s Office requested the warrant on Thursday November 2, and it was then issued on Friday November 3. The Belgian Prosecutor received the arrest warrant and begins reviewing it on Saturday November 4.

The crimes they are being accused of in the arrest warrant are for rebellion, sedition, misuse of funds, breach of official duty and disobedience of lawful authority.  

Spanish Prosecutor issues European arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont

The Belgian prosecutor has already received the warrant for deposed Catalan president and ministers currently in Brussels

03 November 2017 10:23 PM

by ACN | Barcelona

National Court Judge Carmen Lamela has issued a European arrest warrant for the for deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and his four dismissed ministers in Belgium. The four officials who are also included in the arrest warrant are Antoni Comín (Health), Meritxell Serret (Agriculture), Clara Ponsatí (Education) and Lluís Puig (Culture). The crimes they are being accused of in the arrest warrant are for rebellion, sedition, misuse of funds, breach of official duty and disobedience of lawful authority.  

The Spanish Prosecutor’s Office had already requested the warrant on Thursday, and it was then issued on Friday. The Belgian Prosecutor has now received the arrest warrant, and will begin reviewing it on Saturday November 4.

Lamela has also rejected the request that the accused be allowed to make their statements via videoconference from Belgium. According to the court ruling, there are “no prior cases to authorize the measure.” Lamela is also the same judge who ordered that the remaining deposed Catalan ministers, Oriol Junqueras, Raül Romeva, Carles Mundó, Jordi Turull, Josep Rull, Joaquim Forn, Dolors Bassa and Meritxell Borràs, be sent to prison without bail.

Puigdemont calls for a joint candidature for December 21 elections

The deposed Catalan president said 21 December elections are “a decisive election between democracy and imposition“ 

04 November 2017 12:37 PM

by ACN | Barcelona

The dismissed Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, called for a joint and transversal candidature including all pro-independence parties for December 21 elections. Puigdemont stated that the December 21 elections called by the Spanish Government through Article 155 are “an opportunity to defeat unionism” and a “decisive election between democracy and imposition.” "This is the moment for all democrats to unite. For Catalonia, for the freedom of political prisoners and for the Republic,” wrote Puigdemont on Twitter.

Puigdemont, willing to run in the December 21 elections

The dismissed Catalan president revealed that he was willing to run in the December 21 elections. Indeed, Puigdemont is ready to do so even if it means presenting his candidature from abroad. In an interview with Belgian RTBF broadcaster, the deposed Catalan president also affirmed that he is ready to turn himself in to the “true justice,” that is, that of Belgium, but “not to that of Spain.” Puigdemont also added that he is not “afraid” to speak with Spanish president Mariano Rajoy and that he’s still “ready to talk.”

"This is the moment for all democrats to unite. For Catalonia, for the freedom of political prisoners and for the Republic”

Carles Puigdemont · Deposed Catalan president

On the same day, National Court Judge Carmen Lamela issued a European arrest warrant for the deposed Catalan and the four dismissed ministers who are in Belgium. The Spanish Prosecutor’s Office had already requested the warrant on Thursday, and it was then issued on Friday. The Belgian Prosecutor has now received the arrest warrant, and will begin reviewing it on Saturday November 4.

Thus, Lamela rejected the request that the accused be allowed to make their statements via videoconference from Belgium. According to the court ruling, there are “no prior cases to authorize the measure.” The crimes they are being accused of in the arrest warrant are for rebellion, sedition, misuse of funds, breach of official duty and disobedience of lawful authority.  

Puigdemont ready to run in December 21 elections from abroad

The deposed president has said he will turn himself in to “true justice” but “not to that of Spain”

03 November 2017 08:13 PM

by ACN | Brussels

Carles Puigdemont has revealed this evening that he is willing to run in the December 21 elections called by the Spanish Government through Article 155. Indeed, Puigdemont is ready to do so even if it means presenting his candidature from abroad. In his interview with Belgian RTBF broadcaster, the deposed Catalan president affirmed that he is ready to turn himself in to the “true justice,” that is, that of Belgium, but “not to that of Spain.” However, Puigdemont has said that he is not “afraid” to speak with Spanish president Mariano Rajoy and that he’s still “ready to talk.”

Puigdemont also addressed the recent incarceration of the majority of his government, stating that “it’s not normal and it’s extremely barbaric” that democratically elected representatives face up to 30 years in prison. “You can’t speak of democracy if these are the rules of the game,” he observed.

“You can’t speak of democracy if these are the rules of the game”

Carles Puigdemont · Deposed Catalan president  

During the interview, Puigdemont again said that he is still the leader of the “legitimate government” of Catalonia, the one that was “chosen” in elections “to serve the will of the Catalan people, one that’s been voided in a completely illegal way.” He also noted that he had demanded “some guarantees” of his Rajoy to make sure the elections happened in “normal conditions.” These guarantees included freeing the leaders of Òmnium Cultural and the Catalan National Assembly who are currently still in jail. Yet, his demands went unanswered.

Puigdemont further criticized that the Spanish government’s “concept of political dialogue” is to incarcerate the Catalan one. “Putting us in prison is not the solution, on the contrary,” he warned, adding that the Catalan independence movement has “never” been so strong.

The dismissed Catalan leader explained that the “only solution” to the Catalan situation is “dialogue.” Puigdemont also explained that he would be “very careful” with internal Belgian politics and that he is in the country due to the lack of “juridical guarantees” back in Spain. 

In fact, just after the interview, the judge presiding over the hearing for the deposed Catalan ministers that are currently imprisoned demanded the arrest of Carles Puigdemont and his fellow dismissed ministers who are in the Belgian capital. 

'Imprisonments send shockwave through Catalonia’

03 November 2017 08:39 PM

by ACN | Barcelona

It’s now been 24 hours since Spanish justice sent 8 deposed Catalan ministers to prison without bail. And Madrid wants to make sure that Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and four others currently in exile in Brussels, also face the same fate. A European arrest warrant is even on the table. The Catalan conflict, which the EU keeps insisting is an internal matter of Spain, has been internationalized. Now, Belgian courts will have to decide what to do with the Catalan leader, and his ministers. Meanwhile, protests continue on the streets, here, while the Spanish government insists that judges in Spain are impartial.

'Spain jails Catalan government'

02 November 2017 09:12 PM

by ACN | Barcelona

Prison. This is the answer of the Spanish judiciary system to Catalonia’s declaration of independence. Spain’s National Court sent eight deposed Catalan ministers to jail without bail today, after holding short hearings this morning. It is the first time that members of an elected Catalan government have ended up in prison since Franco’s Spain, when president Lluis Companys was held in custody in 1940 before being executed. Meanwhile, the current president, Carles Puigdemont, and four other ministers have opted to not appear before the court in Madrid, and to remain in Brussels instead. Puigdemont's lawyer in Brussels has said he will challenge any extradition request from Spain.

Work stoppages held across Catalonia in protest of judicial process against dismissed Catalan officials

This is the third work stoppage since the October 1 referendum, as workers briefly take to the streets to express their indignity

02 November 2017 01:26 PM

by ACN | Barcelona

At noon across Catalonia, workers took part in a work stoppage in order to protest the judicial process against members of the dismissed Catalan government and parliamentary bureau, who had been summoned to appear in court on Thursday morning in Madrid.

They are accused of the crimes of rebellion, sedition, and misuse of public funds by Spain’s attorney general, and face up to 30 years in prison.

This is the third work stoppage since the October 1 referendum, which brought the crisis between Catalonia and Spain to new levels. The first one, a day after people across Catalonia took to the ballots to cast their votes, was to protest against Spanish violence on the referendum day, preventing many people from voting and injuring nearly 1000.

On October 17 a second work stoppage was called. This time to speak out against the imprisonment of Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, presidents of Omnium Cultural and the Catalan National Assembly respectively. Each time the work stoppages took place at midday and lasted for 15 minutes, as people concentrate in the streets in a symbolic gesture of indignity.

'Catalan government ministers in Brussels?’

30 October 2017 07:52 PM

by ACN | Barcelona

Where is President Carles Puigdemont? Several media reports put him in Brussels, Belgium, where this weekend the Migration Secretary of State hinted that he could apply for political asylum. Today the Spanish General Prosecutor filled charged against him and his full cabinet for rebellion, sedition, and misuse of public funds. The members of the Parliament Bureau that allowed the vote on independence have also been charged. Rebellion carries prison sentences of up to 30 years…and two pro-independence leaders are already in prison, without bail.

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