Puigdemont and deposed Catalan ministers speak in front of Belgian judge
The dismissed Catalan president and four ministers voluntarily presented themselves at a police station on Sunday morning
Deposed Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and four dismissed ministers are to speak in front of the Belgian public prosecutor on Sunday afternoon, following a European arrest warrant issued by the Spanish prosecutor against them. Puigdemont and his ministers, who traveled to Brussels last week alleging they would not face a fair trial in Spain, voluntarily presented themselves in a police station in the morning.
“This afternoon, the five people involved will be interviewed by the judge, who will decide within the next 24 hours what to do,” said Gilles Dejemeppe, spokesperson for the Belgian prosecutor’s office. The prosecutor is to decide before Monday at 9:17 am whether to keep them in custody, release them or even dismiss the arrest order.
Lawyer Gonzalo Boye, who defends deposed ministers Toni Comín and Meritxell Serret, tweeted on Sunday that all actions have been taken with “transparency”. “They voluntarily presented themselves in front of the Belgian authorities because they have never intended to escape justice,” he said, and added that “their only aim was to defend themselves in a place where their fundamental rights would be guaranteed.”
Catalan politicians asked their case to be conducted through the Flemish justice instead of the Francophone one, according to the Belgian prosecutor. Dejemeppe explained that there have been no political intromissions.