Deposed Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont defied an order for him to appear in a Spanish court to face charges over his failed independence bid on Thursday.
Puigdemont fled to Brussels on Monday as Spain’s state prosecutor announced he was seeking charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds against the deposed president and 13 of his ministers. The charges follow Catalonia’s October 1 independence referendum, ruled illegal by Spain’s Constitutional Court.
Spain’s high court, the Audiencia Nacional, ordered Puigdemont and others to appear on Thursday, but he did not show up.
It is now up to Spain’s judicial system to make the next move against Puigdemont. No warrant has yet been issued for his arrest.
Several former Catalan ministers were seen arriving at the court Thursday. A spokesperson for Puigdemont said he would remain in Brussels with other deposed ministers.
According to Puigdemont’s spokesperson, the ministers in court Thursday will make a complaint against the Spanish judicial system’s “lack of guarantees” to allow the pursuit of political ideas.
Puigdmeont, who still considers himself Catalonia’s rightful leader, denied he was evading justice, claiming that the charges had no legal basis and sought “only to punish ideas.”
“We are facing a political trial,” his spokesperson said.
Puigdemont’s lawyer said he would cooperate with Spanish and Belgian authorities, even though he did not appear before judges Thursday, his Belgian lawyer Paul Bekaert told Reuters.
“The climate is not good, it is better to take some distance,” he said.
Puigdemont’s no-show is the latest act of defiance from the renegade leader, who has caused consternation in Madrid following the referendum and the Catalan parliament’s declaration of unilateral independence weeks later.
In response, Madrid sacked Puigdemont and his government, and stripped Catalonia of its cherished autonomy.
Puigdemont has denied he traveled to Brussels to seek political asylum. In public remarks on Tuesday, he claimed he was in the Belgian capital to “to act with freedom and safety” and to seek support from Europe in finding a diplomatic solution.