Spain's chief prosecutor said Monday his office is seeking rebellion charges against the now-deposed leaders of Catalonia following last week's declaration of independence by the region's parliament.
Jose Manuel Maza said in a statement that prosecutors had filed a request at the National Court for the charges, which also include sedition and embezzlement.
Maza said in a ruling that the filing targeted "the principal political leaders of the Catalonia government."
It alleged that the leaders "with their decisions and deeds over the past two years have caused an institutional crisis that led to the unilateral declaration of independence carried out on October 27 with total contempt for our constitution."
A court now has to decide whether to accept the charges against the leaders, who were dismissed by the Madrid government on Friday.
The crime of rebellion is punishable in Spain by up to 30 years in prison.
The dispute over Catalan leaders' independence drive has dragged Spain into its deepest political crisis in decades.
Catalonia's now-dismissed regional president Carles Puigdemont said the result of an outlawed independence referendum on October 1 gave the region a mandate to declare independence.
Madrid and the Spanish courts said the referendum was illegal and that a unilateral independence declaration would violate the constitution.
PdeCAT to participate poll
Puigdemont's party will run in the December regional election called by Spain's government in response to a declaration of independence by Catalan leaders, a spokeswoman said Monday.
"We will go to the polls on (December) 21. We will go with conviction and with a commitment to letting the Catalan people express themselves," Marta Pascal, spokeswoman for the PDeCAT party, told reporters.
Axed leader in Brussels
Dismissed separatist leader Puigdemont was in Brussels on Monday. The news came as Madrid took political control of Catalonia after declaring that Puigdemont and his separatist regional administration were dismissed on Friday, following the Catalan parliament's independence declaration.
On Sunday Belgium's immigration minister suggested Puigdemont could receive asylum in Belgium on the grounds that he might not get a fair trial in Spain.
Catalan daily La Vanguardia reported that he was accompanied by others from his former administration.
Belgian immigration minister Theo Francken, a member of the Flemish separatist N-VA party, said Sunday it was "not unrealistic" that Belgium could offer protection to Puigdemont.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said an asylum request from Puigdemont was "absolutely not on the agenda".
The European Union has backed the Spanish government in the Catalan independence dispute.
