Puigdemont to face Brussels court on Nov 17
Council Chamber extradition hearing for sacked Catalan president and former ministers announced
Deposed Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, and the four dismissed ministers with him in Belgium are to appear before the Council Chamber of Brussels on November 17. That is the date set for the hearing in the chamber to examine whether the sacked leader and his ministers should be extradited to Spain to answer charges of rebellion and sedition.
The appearance will be the first before a Belgian court by Puigdemont and his four ministers after they were questioned on Sunday in relation to the European arrest warrant issued by a Spanish high court judge. The Belgian authorities later conditionally released the former officials. With 15 days to schedule the hearing, the Belgian authorities set the court appearance for November 17 at 2pm.
The Belgian court will then have two weeks to decide if there are enough reasons to suspend the extradition process. At various stages in the process, Puigdemont and his ministers will have the chance to appeal, each time with a time limit of 15 days for a decision to be made. The Belgian authorities have a maximum of 90 days to inform their European counterparts if a warrant cannot be executed.