The Latest: Belgians receive arrest warrant for Puigdemont

MADRID (AP) — The Latest on the Spain-Catalonia political crisis (all times local):
9:50 p.m.
Belgian federal prosecutors say they have received a European arrest warrant for ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and could question him in the coming days.

Spokesman Eric Van Der Sijpt told The Associated Press on Friday that "I can confirm that we have indeed received the arrest warrant" for Puigdemont, who is in hiding in Brussels. Four of his aides are also in hiding and have also been issued arrest warrants.
Van Der Sijpt said: "we will study it, and put it in the hands of an investigating judge. That could be tomorrow, the day after or even Monday." He added: "We are not in any hurry."
A Spanish judge says the five former Catalan officials are being sought for different crimes, including rebellion, sedition and embezzlement in a Spanish investigation into their roles in pushing Catalonia's independence bid.
8:15 p.m.
A Spanish judge has issued an international arrest warrant for ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four aides who have been last seen in Brussels.
National Court investigating judge Carmen Lamela filed the request with the Belgian prosecutor to detain the five, and issued separate international search and arrest warrants to alert Europol in case they flee Belgium.
According to the judge, the five are being sought for five different crimes, including rebellion, sedition and embezzlement in a Spanish investigation into their roles in pushing for secession for Catalonia.
Puigdemont and his aides flew to Brussels after Spanish authorities removed him and his Cabinet from office Saturday for demanding independence. The Spanish government has also called an early regional election for Dec. 21.
6:55 p.m.
Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont says he is ready to run for re-election in December and would be prepared to run his campaign from Belgium, where he is in hiding.
Puigdemont told Belgian state broadcaster RTBF on Friday that "I am ready to be a candidate" in the early polls called for Dec. 21.
He added: "We can run a campaign anywhere because we're in a globalized world."
Puigdemont said he wanted the vote "to take place under the best possible conditions. It's not with a government in prison that these elections are going to be neutral, independent, normal."
Spain is expected to issue a European arrest warrant for his extradition from Belgium. Eight former Catalan government members are already in jail and face sentences that could keep them behind bars for up to 30 years.
6 p.m.
Belgian state broadcaster RTBF says ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont stands ready to hand himself in to Belgian authorities but not to judicial officials in Spain.
RTBF said Friday that Puigdemont told the station in an interview that he wants to give himself up "to real justice (of Belgium), but not to Spanish justice."
Puigdemont, who is in hiding in Belgium, is facing a likely European arrest warrant to return him to Spain. He says "I did not flee, but it's impossible to properly prepare" his legal defense while in Spain.
He insisted that he was not in Belgium to "Belgianize Catalan politics."
A Spanish judge is deliberating Friday on whether to issue an international arrest warrant for Catalonia's ousted leader a day after she jailed nine former members of the region's separatist government.
3 p.m.
A Spanish official says that the government respects and obeys decisions taken by judges, after he was asked about the jailing of former Catalan officials in an investigation related to their push for secession.
Government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo says that "what happened yesterday is in the realm of the justice system and beyond the reach of the government." He also said that the separation of powers also means "separation of responsibilities."
Spain's top prosecutor is seeking rebellion, sedition and embezzlement charges against 20 people, including ousted Catalan Cabinet members and lawmakers who allowed a regional parliamentary vote on Catalonia's independence on Oct. 27.
Supporters say that the eight officials jailed on Thursday without the possibility of bail are "political prisoners," a term that has also been used to describe two separatist activists investigated in connection with preparations for an illegal referendum on independence on Oct. 1.
Mendez de Vigo says that "like in every other European country, the judiciary acts with full independence when the judge thinks that there has been a crime," Mendez de Vigo said.
2:50 p.m.
Spanish judges have rejected an appeal to release two Catalan separatist activists who are part of a sedition probe related to the preparations for an illegal independence referendum.
A National Court spokesman says that Assemblea Nacional Catalana president Jordi Sanchez and Omnium Cultural leader Jordi Cuixart will remain in a Madrid jail while the investigation continues.
The official spoke on customary condition of anonymity. He said no other details would be available until the five magistrates release a full ruling outlining their reasons for keeping the pair in custody.
Both ANC and Omnium Cultural have spearheaded the independence movement in Catalonia. Their two leaders are under investigation for allegedly orchestrating protests that hindered the Spanish authorities' efforts to halt the banned Oct. 1 referendum.
Source: cnbc.com