A Belgian judge on Wednesday ruled against extraditing former Catalan regional ministers who had fled to Brussels from Spain, where they face charges of rebellion and sedition for their alleged role in their region's failed bid for independence.

Toni Comín, Meritxell Serret and Lluis Puig's lawyers, Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas and Gonzalo Boye, said the European Arrest Warrant issued by Spain had been rejected due to its irregularity, as no equivalent national warrant had been sent out.

"The prosecution and defense agreed the warrant had to be rejected and should not even be studied," said Alonso-Cuevillas.

Comín, Serret and Puig had been members of the Catalonia regional government when it was dissolved by the Spanish central state in response to a separatist referendum and the subsequent declaration of independence in Oct. 2017.

They fled to Belgium alongside former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who was recently detained and later released in Germany, a country that decided not to extradite him for rebellion but has ruled he may be sent to Spain to face charges of misuse of public funds.

Several other pro-independence figureheads are fighting extradition requests across Europe or remain in pre-trial detention in Spain, where they are facing decades-long prison sentences. </s> A Belgian court ruled on Wednesday that three former Catalan ministers would not be extradited to Spain, citing “faults” in the European Arrest Warrants issued by the Spanish government.

The former Cabinet ministers — Meritxell Serret, Toni Comín and Lluís Puig — fled to Belgium alongside former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont in October 2017 to avoid arrest after declaring unilateral independence from Spain, following a referendum that was declared illegal by Madrid. The former ministers face charges of “rebellion” and “misuse of funds.”

The Belgian court denied the extradition request because Spain failed to issue new domestic arrest warrants before triggering the European Arrest Warrants, according to Belgian media reports.

Spain first issued European Arrest Warrants against the former ministers in December. They were then reactivated by an investigating judge on March 23, but were not based on new Spanish warrants.

Puigdemont, who is now in Germany awaiting a court decision on his own extradition to Spain, tweeted that the Belgian court’s decision is a sign “Europe grants [the ministers] the right to a fair trial, regardless of political opinions.”

The former Catalan leader has repeatedly called on the EU to help solve the Catalan crisis, insisting it is a European issue. </s> Apart from Puigdemont, the judge requested to order European arrest warrants for four former regional ministers Toni Comin, Meritxell Serret, Lluis Puig and Clara Ponsati, according to El Pais newspaper.

Earlier, Puigdemont said that he was ready for talks with the central government, and believed that his return would be evidence of the normalization of politics and democracy in Spain. </s> Madrid (AFP) - Spain's public prosecutor's office said Friday that it may appeal a German court's decision to reject the extradition of Catalonia's ousted separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to the European Court of Justice.

The German court had issued the preliminary ruling on Thursday, refusing Spain's request to send Puigdemont back to be judged for rebellion over his role in the region's failed secession bid last October.

But in a rare statement on a foreign court's decision, the Spanish office said it was "certain" that the German court's final ruling will respect the principle of "mutual recognition" of judicial decisions that is inherent in the European arrest warrant system.

"In any case, the prosecutor's office will study the possibility of exercising the relevant actions to protect and defend the European legal order... before the European Court of Justice," it added.

Based in Luxembourg, the European Court of Justice enforces the law of the 28-nation European Union.

The German court ruled that rebellion was not punishable under German law, and the closest equivalent, high treason, did not apply because Puigdemont's actions were not accompanied by violence.

But the court is still to decide whether to send the former Catalan president to Spain to face trial for alleged misuse of public funds.

Even if he is extradited on the lesser charge, the German court's refusal to accept the rebellion charge means under European law Puigdemont cannot be prosecuted in Spain for the offence, which several Spanish law professors and rights groups have called extreme.

A senior judge close to the case told AFP before the statement was released that a "protest note" was being prepared in response to the German court's decision.

The court was "undermining European judicial cooperation", the judge said, adding that it was up to Spain's Supreme Court "to interpret the concept of violence" in this case.

The Supreme Court also said in a statement that its judge Pablo Llarena, who is in charge of investigating the role played by Catalonia's separatist leaders, was considering consulting the European Court of Justice on the procedure for extradition among EU member states.

Puigdemont walked out of a German prison on Friday following the ruling, calling for "political dialogue" with Madrid to resolve the row over the region's independence bid. </s> A European arrest warrant will be reissued for the fugitive former leader of Catalonia if he leaves Belgium and enters Denmark as planned, Spain’s state prosecutor’s office said.

The region’s ex-president Carles Puigdemont is scheduled to attend a debate at the University of Copenhagen on Monday.

The trip would be Mr Puigdemont’s first outside Belgium since he fled there to avoid a court summons in Spain for his role in a failed secession bid led by his government in October.

The state prosecutor said that if Mr Puigdemont enters Denmark as planned it will "immediately request" the Spain Supreme Court to issue a European warrant for his arrest by Danish authorities.

Spain issued a European warrant for Mr Puigdemont’s arrest in November, but withdrew it after a month. </s> Spain's public prosecutor's office said Friday that it may appeal a German court's decision to reject the extradition of Catalonia's ousted separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to the European Court of Justice.

[MADRID] Spain's public prosecutor's office said Friday that it may appeal a German court's decision to reject the extradition of Catalonia's ousted separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to the European Court of Justice.

The German court had issued the preliminary ruling on Thursday, refusing Spain's request to send Mr Puigdemont back to be judged for rebellion over his role in the region's failed secession bid last October.

But in a rare statement on a foreign court's decision, the Spanish office said it was "certain" that the German court's final ruling will respect the principle of "mutual recognition" of judicial decisions that is inherent in the European arrest warrant system.

"In any case, the prosecutor's office will study the possibility of exercising the relevant actions to protect and defend the European legal order... before the European Court of Justice," it added.

Based in Luxembourg, the European Court of Justice enforces the law of the 28-nation European Union.

The German court ruled that rebellion was not punishable under German law, and the closest equivalent, high treason, did not apply because Puigdemont's actions were not accompanied by violence.

But the court is still to decide whether to send the former Catalan president to Spain to face trial for alleged misuse of public funds.

Even if he is extradited on the lesser charge, the German court's refusal to accept the rebellion charge means under European law Puigdemont cannot be prosecuted in Spain for the offence, which several Spanish law professors and rights groups have called extreme.

A senior judge close to the case told AFP before the statement was released that a "protest note" was being prepared in response to the German court's decision.

The court was "undermining European judicial cooperation", the judge said, adding that it was up to Spain's Supreme Court "to interpret the concept of violence" in this case.

The Supreme Court also said in a statement that its judge Pablo Llarena, who is in charge of investigating the role played by Catalonia's separatist leaders, was considering consulting the European Court of Justice on the procedure for extradition among EU member states.

Mr Puigdemont walked out of a German prison on Friday following the ruling, calling for "political dialogue" with Madrid to resolve the row over the region's independence bid. </s> Spanish Supreme Court Judge Pablo Llarena on Monday rejected a request by the Spanish state prosecutor’s office for a European arrest warrant for exiled former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont. Puigdemont travelled from Belgium to Denmark on Monday to attend a conference at a university, Xinhua news agency reported. Llanera argued that Puigdemont’s visit to Denmark was a strategy for the former Catalan leader to be arrested in order to “force a context in which he would be able to delegate his vote as if he was in the same situation as those who are currently at the disposition of this court and who have been provisionally denied their liberty.”

This is a reference to Puigdemont’s former deputy Oriol Junqueras and the representatives in the Catalan regional assembly, Joaquim Form and Jordi Sanchez, who have been able to delegate their vote in the assembly elected on December 21, even though they are in prison facing charges of rebellion, sedition; while Junqueras faces trial for the misuse of public funds. Llanera argued that Puigdemont’s trip had “no other aim other than to provoke his arrest” to allow him to participate in the forthcoming investiture debate.

Puigdemont has been in exile in Belgium since the start of November after leaving Spain in the wake of the Catalan independence referendum and unilateral declaration of independence. The Supreme Court had previously issued a European arrest warrant when he originally travelled to Belgium only to withdraw it because Belgium does not have a crime which is the exact equivalent of rebellion. </s> A Belgian court has rejected a Spanish request for the extradition of three Catalan separatist leaders.

The court ruling was the latest in a series of legal disputes between Spain and Belgium, where former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and five others took refuge last year fearing they would face imprisonment at home.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement that the court rejected the extradition request for the three because there were no corresponding Spanish arrest orders. Prosecutors say that Spain can't appeal the decision.

Puigdemont is now in Germany fighting extradition to Spain, where he is wanted for allegedly using public funds and orchestrating an "insurrection" to get the wealthy northeastern region around Barcelona to break away from Spain. </s> Prosecutors in Germany are to seek a warrant to extradite the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to Spain.

Mr Puigdemont was detained by German authorities last month at the Danish border.

The former regional leader is wanted in Spain, where he faces charges of 'rebellion' and misuse of public funds - accusations arising from his role in the disputed Catalan independence referendum.

Mr Puigdemont has been in self-imposed exile from Catalonia and Spain since late last year.

Facing a European arrest warrant, prosecutors in Germany will now seek a court's permission to extradite Mr Puigdemont.

In a statement, officials said: "The prosecutor's office of Schleswig-Holstein state applied for an extradition arrest warrant against former Catalonian regional president Carles Puigdemont from the Higher Regional Court in Schleswig-Holstein."

The prosecutors said the rebellion charges - defined as 'an unconstitutional act despite expectations of violent disturbances' - have a general equivalent in German law, which is among the requirements for extradition applications.

It is not yet known when the German court will make its decision.

Associated Press reports that the former regional lawyers' will ask the court to reject the decision, and have also called on the German government to intervene over the case's 'political dimension' in Spain.
A Belgian judge withdraws the European Arrest Warrant against Toni Comín, Lluís Puig and Meritxell Serret amid procedural defects and irregularities. The Supreme Court of Spain criticizes the decision as a "lack of commitment to Spain" from the Belgian justice.