Belgian high court adjourns extradition hearing

Belgian and Spanish justice are not the same. If the Vice-President Oriol Junqueras and the seven ministers who are imprisoned in Madrid had only 24 hours to prepare their defence and declared briefly before judge Lamela before being sent to Estremera and Alcala Meco, President Carles Puigdemont and the ministers who are with him in Brussels yesterday have been granted an extra two weeks to prepare their defence and will remain in liberty. The hearing began around two o’clock and the first decision taken was to dismiss the charge of corruption which, had it been accepted, would have meant immediate extradition of all the accused to Spain. On the remaining counts, the judge decide to accept the plea from defence lawyers for more time to prepare their case. This will mean that Puigdemont and the ministers will not return to court until December 4, on the eve of the opening of the election campaign. Depending on what the judge decides at that hearing, all will have the right to appeal up to two times before a definitive ruling is handed down, meaning that any extradition will be impossible before the December 21 elections. The early days of December in Brussels will see a massive influx of Catalans called to a week-long protest rally in defence of the exiled leaders by the ANC and Òmnium Cultural.