Spain Requests Extradition of Ousted Catalonia Leader from Belgium

On Friday night, the Supreme Court of Spain issued an arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont, the ousted president of the Catalonia region, and requested Belgium to extradite him to Madrid. On Thursday, November 3, a court in Spain had issued an order for the return of Mr. Puigdemont and four of his close associates, which they ignored. Following this, the Supreme Court judge asked the Belgian government to extradite the Catalan leader to Spain. Carles Puigdemont faces charges including rebellion, sedition against the government, misuse of public funds, disobedience, and breach of trust (from the people). The Spanish court judge rejected the former Catalan leader's request to attend the court via video conference from Belgium. These charges come as Puigdemont has expressed his readiness to run for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Catalonia next month. He stated that he does not trust the Spanish judiciary but will cooperate with Belgian courts. Belgium has a maximum of three months to decide on Puigdemont's extradition or non-extradition. On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Spain also issued arrest warrants for nine members of Puigdemont's dissolved cabinet. Mr. Puigdemont told the RTBF network in Belgium, 'We consider ourselves a legitimate government. We must strive to tell the events of Spain to the world... With a government that is in prison, there will be no fair, independent, and normal elections.' He added, 'I am ready to run... we can launch the election campaign from everywhere.' After the independence referendum in Catalonia was declared illegal by Madrid and the region was placed under direct control of the central government, Prime Minister José Mariano Rajoy called for early parliamentary elections in Catalonia. The 'Catalan National Assembly', a major separatist group, has urged public sector workers, police, and other municipal service centers to execute Madrid's orders with 'peaceful resistance'. Pro-unity forces in Spain have called on the 'silent majority' of the region to participate widely in the elections to prevent separatists from gaining a dominant position in the local parliament. This population demonstrated in Barcelona on Sunday in support of Spanish unity. On the other hand, separatist groups in Catalonia, whose leaders have been imprisoned, have called for a general strike on November 8 and demonstrations on November 20. Following the arrest of separatist leaders in Catalonia, thousands protested in various cities of the region on Thursday. The separatist coalition, named 'All Together for Yes', has launched an advertising campaign for the elections on December 21. Poll results from Tuesday indicate that if elections were held now, the separatist coalition 'All Together for Yes' would receive 35.2% of the votes, which would mean gaining a majority in the Catalan parliament. With this outlook, the Spanish government announced on Friday that it would engage in dialogue with the majority group in parliament within the framework of the law. Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis told the Figaro newspaper that through dialogue, there is a possibility of granting more autonomy to Catalonia.