Spain wants exiled ex-Catalan leader arrested if he travels to Denmark

Spain's General Prosecution office said on Sunday that the Spanish prosecutor will ask the Spanish Supreme Court to reactivate the European arrest warrant if ex-Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, travels to Denmark.

Puigdemont might travel on Monday to Denmark to take part in a debate organized by the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen. If the authorities confirm this trip, the Spanish prosecutor would ask the judge of the Spanish Supreme Court, Pablo Llarena, to reactive the European arrest warrant.

Llarena had withdrawn the European arrest warrant at the beginning of December because the crime of "rebellion" does not exist in Belgium, so if Puigdemont was returned to Spain by the Belgian authorities he would be facing the lesser charge of misuse of public funds.

He said, however, Puigdemont and the other four former councilors who went to Brussels after the independence of the region was declared on Oct. 27, 2017 would be arrested as soon as they enter Spain.

Puigdemont has not yet commented on the Denmark trip, though on Friday he re-tweeted a Twitter post from Danish politician Pelle Dragsted saying he looked forward to welcoming Puigdemont to the Danish parliament the following week.

It would be the first time that Puigdemont has left Belgium since October.

Puigdemont's lawyer said that if he travels to Denmark there is a high risk of him being arrested.

Meanwhile, Puigdemont is set to become the president of the regional government of Catalonia again after pro-independence parties won the regional elections which were called by Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

The Spanish government used Article 155 of the Spanish constitution, allowing the central government to intervene in some areas of the regional institutions.

Rajoy commented on Monday that his government would maintain Article 155 should Puigdemont be chosen to return to his former post.

(REUTERS&CGTN)