Ousted Catalan leader blasts Spain after Belgium frees him

The five fled to Belgium a week ago after Spain dismissed the Catalan executive and imposed direct rule on the semi-autonomous region following the declaration of independence by the parliament there last month.

The group were released Sunday night on condition they not leave Belgium before judges hear Spain’s case for their extradition on charges of rebellion and sedition.

“Released without bail. Our thoughts are with colleagues unjustly imprisoned by a state that is far from democratic norms,” Puigdemont said on Twitter, referring to colleagues who have been jailed in Spain including his deputy.

– ‘Defend our rights’ –

In an editorial published in the British newspaper The Guardian, Puigdemont added that they would fight “to the end”.

“It may be uncomfortable for those who have given their uncritical and unconditional support to Mariano Rajoy’s government, but we will defend our rights to the end,” he said.

Puigdemont, who still describes himself as Catalonia’s “president,” said he is willing to run as a candidate in next month’s regional election called by Spanish prime minister Rajoy to “restore normality” to Catalonia.

Spain issued European arrest warrants on Friday after Puigdemont and his allies ignored a summons to appear before a judge on allegations linked to the move to declare Catalonia an independent state.

The five turned themselves in Sunday morning to the Belgian authorities who hours later released them on condition they do not leave the country, give an address and attend court hearings.

They are due next to appear in a Brussels court on 17 November, the Brussels prosecutor said.

Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos rejected the charges of bias on the sidelines of talks on reforming the euro with his EU counterparts in Brussels.

“I have absolute confidence in the division of powers, in the rule of law,” de Guindos said, adding Spain detained the accused because their alleged offences occurred in his country.

– Wartime ‘collaboration’ claims –

Puigdemont admitted last week that he had gone to Belgium partly in a bid to take the Catalan issue to the heart of the European Union, which has so far backed Madrid over the crisis.

Belgium’s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders insisted it was a legal matter and not one for politicians to deal with. “We must let the Belgian and Spanish courts do their work,” Reynders told his country’s media.

But the case has caused tensions both between Belgium and Madrid, as well as within the government of Belgium, a country divided between French and Flemish-speaking populations.

A Spanish member of the European Parliament, Esteban Gonzalez Pons, accused Belgian Interior Minister Jan Jambon of belonging to a “party that collaborated with the German occupation in World War II, a xenophobic party that is an unsavoury ally for anyone.”

Jambon — a member of the Flemish separatist N-VA party, who caused outrage in 2014 by suggesting that Flemish groups who collaborated with the Nazis ‘had their reasons” — had questioned why the EU has failed to denounce the harsh crackdown by one of its 28 member states.

“I see there is a deafening silence everywhere,” Jambon told Flemish VRT television Sunday.

He accused the EU of double standards by taking legal action against the right-wing governments of Poland and Hungary for allegedly defying democratic norms.

N-VA party leader Bart de Wever denounced the Spanish government crackdown on the separatists as “politically motivated” that had nothing to do with enforcing the rule of law.

He also charged that Spain’s ruling Popular Party had descended from the supporters of the late Spanish dictator Franco — echoing a criticism by former Belgian premier Elio di Rupo that Madrid was being “Franco authoritarian”.

Puigdemont, 54, insists that Catalonia earned the right to declare independence following the referendum and has described his detained colleagues as “political prisoners”.

On Sunday, protesters in Catalan cities took to the streets to demand their release.