Today's press conference with a spokesperson from the Belgian prosecutors' office, Gilles Dejemeppe, had a moment of surprise when Spanish media asked whether Belgian police had handcuffed Catalan president Puigdemont and his fellow ministers. The spokesperson seemed momentarily disconcerted and said that he didn't know such details. He made it clear however that it wouldn't be normal practice in this type of case.
"I have no information regarding that, but if they do not present a danger to the police around them, there's no reason why they should be handcuffed," he said.
Vice-president Oriol Junqueras and the ministers who did respond to the summons to the National Audience court in Madrid were handcuffed behind their backs when the judge ordered their arrest and preventive imprisonment without bail."