The prosecutor's office in Belgium has allowed the former president of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, to participate in Spanish political activities, "as long as he does not leave the country and complies with his probation."
Puigdemont will be able to participate in the campaign for the Catalonia regional elections scheduled for December 21st.
The Public Prosecutor, Ine Van Wymersch, said that, "Restrictive measures are what they are. There are no restrictions on maintaining contact with anyone or carrying out activities of any kind.”
The Belgian judiciary today decided to leave Puigdemont and his four regional ‘ministers in exile,’ on probation, with precautionary measures, after Spain issued a European Arrest Warrant for Belgium authorities to follow up on.
The precautionary measures state that Puigdemont, Meritxell Serret, Toni Comín, Lluís Puig and Clara Ponsantí will not be able to leave Belgium without the authorisation of the examining magistrate, that they will have to tell the court where they are staying and must attend all hearings at the request of the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office.
Puigdemont and the four Catalan regional ministers have been in Brussels since October 30 and failed to turn up in a Madrid court last week when indicted with "rebellion, sedition and fraudulent use of public funds," charges that carry a 30-year maximum sentence - the same as for cases of terrorism or murder most foul.
Puigdemont's PDeCAT party said on Sunday that its president had turned himself in to the Belgian authorities to demonstrate his "willingness not to flee from the judicial process but to defend himself in a fair and impartial process, which is possible in Belgium, and highly doubtful in Spain."
The first Belgian court hearing to examine the validity of the European Arrest Warrant is scheduled for November 17th.
The Spanish government today expressed its "total respect" for the decision of the Belgian judge to bail Puigdemont and his gang of four even after Spain’s Audiencia Nacional court last Thursday ordered the arrest of eight regional ministers, including the regional vice-president, Oriol Junqueras.
On Monday, Puigdemont denounced Spain as an "undemocratic country" that had unjustly jailed his political colleagues.
Puigdemont admitted that he had gone to Belgium partly in a bid to take the Catalonia issue to the very heart of the European Union as the Commission has been backing Mariano Rajoy throughout the political crisis.
