Judge remands Catalan leaders as elections near

CATALONIA’S sacked vice-president Oriol Junqueras and three other separatist leaders will remain in prison during a probe over their role in the region’s independence drive, a Spanish judge decided yesterday, as critical Catalan elections approach.

Six other former ministers who were also remanded in custody last month would be released on bail of ß100 000 (R1.6-million) each as an investigation into charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds continued, the Madrid court said.

The decision comes as axed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont attended an extradition hearing in Belgium, to where he escaped after his region’s parliament declared independence on October 27, claiming he would not get a fair trial at home.

Spain is seeking to have Puigdemont and four of his former ministers who fled with him sent back to face charges over their role in the independence drive.

The Belgian judge would decide on December 14 whether to grant the European arrest warrant, their lawyers said after the hearing.

The ruling that Junqueras, former regional interior minister Joaquim Forn and two civil society leaders will stay in prison comes as the official campaign for Catalan elections on December 21 kicked off.

Madrid called the new elections after the independence declaration, while dismissing Catalonia’s government and suspending the region’s autonomy.

After receiving a request to free the 10 Catalan leaders, Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena decided there was a risk that Junqueras and three others would repeat their alleged offences if released.

The news sparked outrage among independence supporters.

Marta Rovira, Junqueras’s deputy in his ERC party, said the four who remained in prison were paying a political price for the success of October 1, referring to an independence referendum that took place despite a court ban.