Spain’s supreme court has rejected the state prosecutor’s request to issue an international arrest warrant against Carles Puigdemont after the ousted Catalan president travelled to Denmark on Monday. The magistrate said circumstances might change “when the constitutional order and normal parliamentary workings cannot be affected by [the warrant’s] issuance”. In December, Mr Llarena withdrew an international arrest order against Mr Puigdemont, fearing that technical differences between the Belgian and Spanish judicial systems would restrict the charges upon which he could be tried after being extradited. Mr Puigdemont wants to be sworn in again as Catalan president from Belgium following an investiture debate that is due to begin on January 31st. Proposed for presidencyOn Monday, the new speaker of the Catalan parliament, Roger Torrent, of the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), formally proposed Mr Puigdemont, of the Together for Catalonia (JxCAT) coalition, as the only candidate for president in the upcoming debate.

Source: The Irish Times January 22, 2018 15:33 UTC