A hearing of the former president of the Generalitat in Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, and his four advisors in Brussels on Friday 17 November ended in a postponement of the hearing until Monday 4 December for the decision about whether the European arrest warrant against the five politicians is to go ahead.
During the hearing, the Belgian prosecutor asked judges to implement the European arrest warrant issued by the Spanish authorities on Friday 3 November for forming a coalition of officials and misappropriation by civil servants, according to the defence lawyers. The public prosecutor did not use the term ‘prevarication’ that is used in the arrest warrant. The prosecutor’s office refused to give any clarification.
Carles Puigdemont and his advisors were asked to return before the judge on 4 December to present their arguments. Reacting from the fringes of the Social Summit in Gothenburg (see separate article), the Spanish pm, Mariano Rajoy, said that he was confident about the power of the Belgian judiciary and would comply with the justice system’s decision.
Emission of the arrest warrant followed the flight of the former leader and his supporters to Brussels on 30 November (see EUROPE 11894), after a vote by the Catalan parliament in favour of independence for Catalonia on Friday 27 October (see EUROPE 11893). (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)