Catalan ex-President Carles Puigdemont and four other Catalan officials sought by Spanish authorities turned themselves in to Belgian police on Sunday, officials said.
They will go before a
judge who will have until Monday morning to decide the next step, which could
include executing arrest warrants against the men or imposing bail
requirements, said Gilles Dejemeppe, a spokesman for the Brussels prosecutor's
office.
The officials
surrendered to authorities at 9:17 a.m. and, with their lawyers present, were
officially notified of the arrest warrants, Dejemeppe said.
A Spanish judge issued
an international arrest warrant for Puigdemont on Friday, a day after eight
members of the dissolved Catalan government were jailed in Spain.
Puigdemont, who
considers himself the rightful leader of Catalonia, has said he went to Belgium
not to flee the Spanish court system, but rather to seek European support for
his region's independence bid.
Puigdemont tweeted
Saturday that he and his associates are "prepared to fully cooperate with
Belgian justice following the European arrest warrant issued by Spain."
Spain was plunged into
its worst political crisis in decades after Puigdemont's administration held an
independence referendum October 1 despite the nation's highest court banning
the move.
The Catalan parliament
then declared unilateral independence, and Madrid responded by suspending the
region's autonomy, sacking the government and imposing direct rule.
Carmen Lamela, a judge
in Spain's National Court, asked the Belgian prosecutor's office to arrest
Puigdemont and four ministers in the dissolved Catalan government who ignored a
court order to appear before a judge Thursday.
The charges include
sedition, rebellion, misuse of funds, abuse of authority and contempt. The
other four named in warrants are Toni Comin, Clara Ponsati, Lluis Puig and
Meritxell Serret.
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