Spanish Judge Jails 8 Catalan Separatists Before Trial
Mr. Puigdemont issued a televised message from Brussels calling for the release of his eight former colleagues
and "the end of the political repression." The attorney general wants the separatist leaders to be prosecuted on charges of rebellion, sedition and the use of public funds to organize the Oct. 1 independence referendum, which had been declared illegal by the Spanish government and courts.
2, 2017
MADRID — Less than a week after Catalonia declared independence, a Spanish judge on Thursday ordered prison
without bail for eight former members of the regional government pending trial on charges of rebellion.
Spain’s public prosecutor asked the judge, Carmen Lamela, to approve an arrest warrant for Mr. Puigdemont
and four other Catalan politicians who left for Belgium on Monday as Madrid began taking over direct administration of Catalonia under emergency measures.
In all, Spain’s attorney general is seeking to prosecute 20 Catalan separatists, including Carles Puigdemont,
the former leader of Catalonia, who refused to join the others summoned to court on Thursday in Madrid.
Judge Lamela, who sits on Spain’s national court, must now decide whether to approve a European arrest warrant for the politicians,
which would then have to be reviewed by a counterpart judge in Belgium, pending possible extradition to Spain.