Belgian public prosecutors are to ask on Tuesday morning for the execution of the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) to extradite the exiled Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, to Spain for sedition and misuse of public funds, the two offences for which he is now wanted by Spanish justice, reports Europa Press.
"They are demanding extradition for the two crimes," Paul Bekaert, Belgian lawyer of the pro-independence politician, told Europa Press, thus signalling that the Brussels prosecution service backs the position of Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena, although without clarifying what the equivalent crimes would be under Belgian law. Sources in the exiled president's defence team have told ElNacional.cat that "the prosecutors said the same thing in 2017 and 2018, and they say, for the moment, that they 'consent', but it is just a procedure."
The parties involved in the case, who have had access to the first written allegations, are required to report to the court on Tuesday at 9.00am for the hearing on the reactivation of the EAW, in a closed session at the Brussels court of first instance.
Puigdemont's lawyers plan to seek a postponement of the hearing to "have more time to prepare" the Catalan president's defence, arguing that they have barely had 24 hours to study the dossier for a highly complex case.
For this reason, according to Bekaert, the judge will not take any decision on the substance of the case tomorrow, but will set a new date, "probably in early December", to resume the hearing and allow the parties to present arguments.
Puigdemont is at present not subject to bail, but must abide by conditions such as maintaining a permanent residence in Belgium and not leaving the country unless authorized by the judge, pending the resolution of the case. This regime was decided by an instructional judge when Puigdemont appeared on 18th October, following Spain's reactivation of the arrest warrant two weeks ago.
The pro-independence politician reported to the Belgian federal police and was under arrest until the judge interrogated him and issued the precautionary measures the following day. In order to avoid extradition, Puigdemont's defence argued that he had immunity as an MEP, but after consulting the European Parliament, the judge concluded that he was not covered by this protection.
In 2017, when Spain's National Audience requested the handover of Puigdemont from Belgium for the first time, the public prosecutor in Brussels put the extradition case to the judge for all the crimes that Spain had sought him for - including rebellion and sedition - except for malfeasance.