Spanish court threatens arrest for ousted Catalan president, other ex-officials

Catalonia's deposed former president will likely face arrest if he refuses to testify about his role in the region's failed push for full independence, Spain's high court warned Thursday.


Carles Puigdemont -- who fled to Belgium this week -- and 13 members of his former administration were summoned to appear in court. Puigdemont and some of the others, however, defied the order to appear. The Spanish Supreme Court said further refusal could lead to prosecutors seeking arrest warrants for the holdouts.

Puigdemont and ex-officials Clara Ponsati, Antoni Comín, Lluis Puig and Meritxell Serret all failed to appear, which might lead to detention orders.

The other eight ex-Catalan officials, though, complied and appeared Thursday to face charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds for their role in the failed bid to secede from Spain -- a move spurred by voters in an Oct. 1 referendum.

"When an individual fails to appear when summoned by a judge, the normal procedure in Spain and any other European Union country is to issue an arrest warrant," Carlos Lesmes, head of the Spanish Supreme Court, said.
 [upi.com]
 2/11/17
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Related:

• Spain’s State Prosecutor: Catalonia’s Leaders Should Be Jailed Pending Probe
• Ousted Catalan leader will not return to Spain to testify: lawyer
• Spanish Prosecutor Calls for Rebellion Charges against Catalan Leaders