[WATCH] Catalan leader Puigdemont ‘will not return’ to Spain for questioning, says lawyer

Carles Puigdemont, sacked Catalan leader, will not be returning to Spain to answer charges including rebellion, said his lawyer.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Paul Bekaert suggested that Puigdemont should instead be questioned in Belgium, where he has been since Monday.

The leader was summoned to court in Madrid on Thursday, alongside 13 other deputies, facing multiple charges including sedition and misuse of public funds, over last month’s banned independence referendum.

Spanish prosecutors could order for their arrest, if they fail to appear in court for questioning.

Bekaert, however, told Dutch and Belgian media, that his client would “wait and see” further reaction from Spanish authorities before returning due to the risk of detention.

He also suggested that Puigdemont would fight any extradition orders by the Spanish national government.

After the regional parliament declared independence, Spain took direct control and sacked the entire government, including Puigdemont. Chief prosecutor in Spain said that the Catalan leaders were accused of rebellion – which in itself, carries a maximum jail term of 30 years – as well as sedition and misuse of funds.

The leaders are yet to be formally charged, but are due to testify at the Audiencia National (National Court) on Thursday and Friday.

The court summons also gave them three days to pay a deposit of €6.2m to cover potential liabilities.

Both Puigdemont and his lawyer denied at a news conference on Tuesday that he had travelled to Belgium to seek asylum.

He said he was there "for safety purposes" and wanted to be able to speak freely.

Joaquim Forn and Dolors Bassa, the deposed Catalan interior and labour ministers who travelled with the former Catalan president to Belgium, returned to Barcelona on Tuesday night.

According to media reports, they were greeted by chants of "off to prison" by some crowds that had gathered at Barcelona international airport.