MADRID, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- Sacked Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont tweeted on Saturday that he was willing to cooperate with Belgium's Justice system.
"We are ready to fully cooperate with Belgian court regarding the EU arrest warrant delivered by Spain," Puigdemont wrote in Dutch on Twitter.
The ousted Cantalan leader made the remarks after Spanish High Court judge Carmen Lamela on Friday evening issued a European arrest warrant for him and four former members of his cabinet who were responsible for pushing for secession for Catalonia from Spain.
Having already sent nine former members of Puigdemont's government to prison on charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of funds, Lamela added "disobedience" and "prevarication" to those charges for Puigdemont and other four members who fled to Belgium and are curruently in hiding there, but their exact whereabouts are yet to know.p The warrant means Puigdemont and the other four former members of his government will have to be arrested and appear before a judge in Belgium. If they accept to return to Spain, they will do so within 10 days, but if they refuse judicial proceedings could last up to 60 days.
The Belgian prosecutor's office said it has received Spain's arrest warrant and the prosecutor will study it before it will be given to a judge, Spanish newspaper El Pais reported.
"I confirm that we have received it. We are waiting for translation and then we will study it," El Pais quoted spokesman of the Belgian prosecutor's office Eric Van der Sijpt as saying.
Santi Vila, the only former member of the deposed Catalan government who was offered the chance of bail by judge Lamela, was released on Friday on 50,000 euros (58,048 U.S. dollars) bail.
The other eight members including former Catalan deputy leader Oriol Junqueraswere were held in custody without having bail set.
Meanwhile, the High Court rejected the appeal of the leaders of pro-Catalan independence groups, Omnium Cultural and the Catalan National Assembly, against Judge Lamela's decision taken on Oct. 17 to remand them in custody without bail pending investigation on charges of sedition.
Sedition carried a maximum prison sentence of 25 years in Spain, while the Spanish media comment that the former members of the Catalan government could face jail terms of up to 50 years if found guilty on all counts.
Spain's rich Catalonia autonomous region held a referendum on self-determination on Oct. 1, and declared its independence by the former Catalan regional government on Oct. 27. But it was declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked Catalan leader Puigdemont and his government and announced new elections in the region on Dec. 21.
The Spanish State Prosecutor presented accusations last Monday against Puigdemont and his government, citing the crime of "rebellion" for those who rise "violently and publicly" in order to "repeal, suspend or modify the constitution partly or in full" or "declare the independence of part of national territory."
The frustrated unilateral independence declaration of Catalonia has already damaged tourism and deterred investment.
About 2,000 companies representing more than 30 percent of Catalan employment had changed their legal headquarters from the region to other places in Spain.
The central bank of Spain has warned that the economic growth of the country could be affected if the constitutional crisis in the Catalan region gets worse.
Spain could lose up to 27 billion euros (31.35 billion U.S. dollars), according to the data of the bank's latest Financial Stability report.
Enric Millo, the Spanish government delegate in Catalonia, said on Thursday that he was "convinced" that new elections called for the Catalan region on Dec. 21 would put an end to the ongoing crisis.
Millo said he hopes the new Catalan regional government will "develop its ideas, whatever, their colors, within the current legal framework."
"We hope that the new (Catalan) government develops legitimate ideas and objectives, whatever they are, but that they do so within the law," he said.
