Catalonia crisis: Spain’s prosecutors call for Puigdemont’s arrest

CarlesPuigdemont said on Tuesday that Spain had a “democratic deficit”
All five failed to show up at Spain’s high court on accusations of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds.
Mr Puigdemont’s lawyer said the climate was “not good” for him to appear.
Nine other sacked members of Catalonia’s regional government did turn up for questioning at the court.
Prosecutors in Madrid asked for eight of them to be jailed over their role following their testimony.
Spain has been gripped by a constitutional crisis since the referendum was held on 1 October in defiance of a constitutional court ruling that had declared it illegal.
Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy imposed direct rule on Catalonia, dissolving the regional parliament and calling snap local elections for 21 December.
This came after Catalan lawmakers voted to declare independence of the affluent north-eastern region.
The Catalan government said that of the 43% of potential voters who took part in the referendum, 90% were in favour of independence.
Who are the warrants for?
CarlesPuigdemont is currently thought to be in Belgium, and has said he will not return to Spain unless he and four of his fellow sacked colleagues received unspecified guarantees of a fair trial. Belgium’s federal prosecutor has said the law will be applied once the arrest warrant has been received, according to Efe news agency.
In addition to Mr Puigdemont, prosecutors have asked Spain’s high court judge to issue arrest warrants for the following Catalan officials:
Reports suggest some of them had requested to appear before the judges at the earlier court appearance via video conference. Mr Puigdemont’s Belgian lawyer told Reuters news agency that he would co-operate with the authorities in Spain and Belgium.
The deposed leader was seen in a cafe in Brussels while the other Catalan leaders appeared in court, Radio Nacional de España said on Twitter, with a picture of him.