BRUSSELS — A day after Catalonia’s ousted leader, Carles Puigdemont, fled to Brussels, Spain’s Constitutional Court has suspended the Catalan parliament’s recent vote to declare independence from Spain.
Spain’s 1978 constitution says the country is “indissoluble.” The top court has consistently ruled against any attempt to move toward Catalan secession.
Spain’s chief prosecutor has announced he is seeking charges of rebellion, sedition, embezzlement and similar offenses against leaders of the Catalan independence movement including Puigdemont.
Puigdemont on Tuesday said he would return home “immediately” if a fair judicial process were guaranteed in Spain.
Asked by reporters on Tuesday how long he would stay, he responded: “As long we consider it (necessary). The situation is developing every day. Here we have better guarantees for our rights here and we can meet our obligations from here.”
He added: “If they can guarantee to all of us, and to me in particular, a just, independent process, with the separation of powers that we have in the majority of European nations – if they guarantee that, we would return immediately.”
This story will be updated.
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