Catalonia's former president, Carles Puigdemont, has refused to return from his self-imposed exile and answer charges in Madrid. He and other former Catalan officials could face decades-long sentences if convicted, DW reports.
Spanish prosecutors urged a High Court judge to jail eight Catalan leaders after they appeared before the Madrid court on Thursday. Previously, a total of nine Catalan ex-ministers were quizzed in Madrid on possible charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement, the move triggered by the controversial independence referendum.
The judge has yet to decide on the prosecutors' request.
DW correspondent Charlotte Chelsom Pill reported a pro-independence rally on the streets of Barcelona on Thursday, with protesters expressing their support to Catalan lawmakers in Madrid.
Also, the deposed Catalonian leader Carles Puigdemont refused to leave Belgium and appear before the judges on Thursday.
"The climate is not good, it is better to take some distance," his lawyer Paul Bekaert told Reuters. "If they ask, he will cooperate with Spanish and Belgian justice," the lawyer added.
Puigdemont and five of his sacked colleagues fled to Belgium on Monday as charges against them were unveiled. The ex-Catalan president declared he would stay in Brussels so he could act in "freedom and safety."
By ignoring the court's summons, Puigdemont is risking an arrest warrant against him. Such a warrant would prevent the Catalan politician from standing in an upcoming snap regional election. Earlier, Spain's ruling Popular Party said there would "probably be an extradition petition to Belgium and Belgian police will detain [Puigdemont]" if he failed to appear on Thursday.
However, Puigdemont's former vice president Oriol Junqueras and some of his cabinet colleagues did appear before the Madrid court on Thursday. Other pro-independence politicians also arrived to face a separate Supreme Court probe in Madrid, including the former Catalan parliament speaker Carme Forcadell. The Supreme Court subsequently announced that the questioning of Forcadell and five other regional parliament board members was postponed until next week, on request of their lawyers.