Belgian politicians criticize imprisonment of Catalan leaders

Belgian politicians criticized the imprisonment of Catalan pro-independence leaders after deposed president Carles Puigdemont and his ministers put their country in the eye of the storm when they landed in Brussels last week, alleging they did not trust the Spanish justice to offer them a fair trial.

The deputy prime minister, Jan Jambon, said the Spanish government has gone “too far,” in reference to the imprisonment of the eight ministers who stayed in Catalonia after being suspended from office. In an interview with Belgian broadcaster VTM, Jambon accused Madrid of wanting to “substitute a democratically elected government, the members of which are in prison” and added “What did they do wrong? Simply enforcing their electoral mandate.”

Spain asked for the extradition of Puigdemont and his ministers last week. On Sunday morning, the Catalans went of their own accord to a police station in Brussels. A Belgian judge decided to conditionally release them late Sunday night while a final decision is made on whether to extradite them or not.