Ousted Catalan leader won’t go to Madrid court

Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont will not return to Spain for questioning this week by a National Court judge investigating him for possible rebellion charges, his Belgian lawyer says suggesting that he could be questioned in Belgium instead.

The fired Catalan regional government leader flew to Brussels after the Spanish government used special constitutional powers to take control of Catalan affairs Saturday and fired his government. Spain took over running the northeastern region after Catalan lawmakers voted the previous day to secede in Spain’s most serious political crisis in decades.

Puigdemont and his 13 former Catalan cabinet members have been summoned for questioning in Madrid on Thursday and Friday.

All 14 faced possible charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement for driving the secessionist bid to a full declaration of independence for the prosperous region that includes Barcelona. Also summoned is Puigdemont’s No. 2, Oriol Junqueras. The crimes are punishable with decades behind bars.

— AP