Court dates set
On Monday, as Puigdemont arrived in Brussels, Spain's chief prosecutor Jose Manuel Maza announced he would seek charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds against the ousted leader and several members of his former government. The charge of rebellion carries a maximum jail term of 30 years.
The speaker of the Catalan parliament, Carme Forcadell, will be among the first to face court. Judicial authorities summoned her and other MPs to the Supreme Court for Thursday, or face fines.
Puidgemont said his party would take part in the December elections.
"We take the election called for by the Spanish state as a democratic challenge -- we are not afraid of them," he said.
Puigdemont called on Madrid to give guarantees it will respect the results, even if pro-independence parties win, and to refrain from violence.
Madrid sent thousands of national police into Catalonia on October 1 to shut down the referendum, which it regarded as illegal. Images of officers firing rubber bullets at protestors, dragging people by the hair from polling stations and restraining elderly voters grabbed attention around the world.
A Catalan crisis
The independence bid has plunged Spain into it worst political crisis since the restoration of democracy in the 1970s. Some 90% voted in favor of independence in the disputed referendum, but turnout was only 43%.
It has also been deeply divisive. Hundreds of thousands of people have protested in Barcelonaboth for and against independence.
Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, center, takes part in an independence march in Barcelona on October 21.
A recent poll that surveyed 1,000 people showed that political parties backing independence would not win a majority if elections were held today.
Pro-independence parties would get 61 to 65 seats in the region's parliament, short of a majority in the 135-seat assembly, the Sigma Dos poll suggests. Pro-independence parties had 72 seats in the parliament before it was dissolved.
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