Catalan leaders vow to continue work in exile

After fleeing to Belgium on Monday, Catalonia’s ousted regional president, Carles Puigdemont, said he would return home if he felt confident in Spain’s judicial process. On Tuesday, Puigdemont told a packed news conference in Brussels that the Catalan leaders who left Spain with him could perform their duties from abroad and would have better guarantees of their rights in Belgium. Puigdemont said they would their work “despite the limits imposed on us.” Spain’s state prosecutor on Monday said he would pursue charges of rebellion, sedition, and embezzlement against the deposed Catalan leaders over their role in declaring independence in the autonomous region Friday. The charges could send the politicians to prison for up to 30 years.