The ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont and four associates have turned themselves in to Belgian police, the Brussels prosecutor’s office has said. Puigdemont is in custody awaiting a decision by the Belgian federal prosecutor on whether to execute Spain’s European arrest warrant and send him back home to face charges of sedition and embezzlement. A spokesman for the prosecutor said in a press conference in Brussels that the five men would be questioned on Sunday afternoon.

The investigating judge has 24 hours to make a decision on whether to execute the European arrest warrant issued by the Spanish government and start the process of deportation or dismiss it, most likely on the grounds that the Belgian state does not recognise similar charges. The judge could also execute the warrant but free Puigdemont who has the right to appeal, a process that could take 30 days to complete. The judge must make a decision by 9.17am on Monday morning, 24 hours after the former Catalan leader handed himself in. Puigdemont has been in Brussels since Monday having declared Spain’s courts as politicised.(theguardian)…[+]