{"id":367507,"date":"2017-11-01T17:22:01","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T17:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=367507"},"modified":"2017-11-01T17:22:01","modified_gmt":"2017-11-01T17:22:01","slug":"catalonia-puigdemont-will-not-return-to-spain-for-questioning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/11\/catalonia-puigdemont-will-not-return-to-spain-for-questioning\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalonia: Puigdemont ‘will not return’ to Spain for questioning"},"content":{"rendered":"
Sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont will not return to Spain to answer charges including rebellion, his Belgian lawyer has said.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Associated Press, Paul Bekaert suggested Mr Puigdemont should instead be questioned in Belgium where he has been since Monday.<\/p>\n
He has been summoned to court in Madrid on Thursday, alongside 13 deputies.<\/p>\n
They face charges including sedition and misuse of public funds over last month’s banned independence referendum.<\/p>\n
Spanish prosecutors could order their arrest if they fail to appear in court for questioning.<\/p>\n
But Mr Bekaert told Dutch and Belgian media that his client would “wait and see” further reaction from the Spanish authorities before returning because of the “high” risk of detention.<\/p>\n
He also suggested he would fight any extradition ordered by the Spanish national government.<\/p>\n
Spain has been gripped by a constitutional crisis since a referendum, organised by Mr Puigdemont’s separatist government, was held on 1 October in defiance of a constitutional court ruling that had declared it illegal.<\/p>\n