Belgian court rejects move to extradite ex-Catalan minister

BRUSSELS (AP) — A Belgian court has rejected Spain’s demand to have a former high-ranking politician from Catalonia extradited to be tried for his alleged role in an independence referendum in the region that Madrid had banned. The Brussels prosecutor’s office said Friday that the court had rejected enforcing the European arrest warrant for former Catalan culture minister Lluis Puig because “the Spanish authorities who issued the warrant are not competent to do so.” Puig has been living in exile in Belgium since he, former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and a number of their associates fled to Belgium in October 2017, fearing arrest over the secessionist push. His legal team accuses Spain of abusing the arrest warrant system for political purposes.