Ousted Catalan leaders granted conditional release in Belgium

A Belgian judge on Sunday granted conditional release to ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and four of his ministers, hours after they turned themselves in to police. The judge said the leaders must remain in Belgium and appear in court in two weeks. The former Catalan officials all face charges of rebellion, sedition, and embezzlement after they unilaterally declared independence in the autonomous region of Spain. On Friday, a Spanish judge issued European arrest warrants for the leaders after detaining eight other former officials in Spain. “Our thoughts are with the comrades unjustly jailed by a state that strays far from democratic practices,” Puigdemont posted Monday on Twitter.