Spanish judge withdraws European arrest warrant for separatist leader Puigdemont

MADRID - Spanish judge Pablo Llarena withdrew on Thursday the European arrest warrant for Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont and other five politicians involved in Catalonia's push for independence, local media reported on Thursday.

The decision follows on the news of last week when the higher court in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, ruled Puigdemont could be extradited to Spain but only on the charge of misuse of public finds instead of rebellion.

According to that, Llarena could only judge Puigdemont on the charge of misuse of public funds, but he and the other former members of the Catalan government were accused of rebellion in Spain after holding the Oct 1, 2017 referendum of independence, declared illegal by Spain's Constitutional Court.

However, the German court rejected an extradition for rebellion, which in Spain could lead to a sentence of up to 30 years, saying that Puigdemont was not an "intellectual leader" of acts of violence.

The regional government of Catalonia led by Puigdemont was ousted after secessionist Catalan lawmakers voted to declare the region's independence on Oct 27, 2017. Some former members of the regional government left Spain and others are in prison after being accused of rebellion.