Puigdemont and his ministers arrested in Belgium

They were taken into custody at exactly 09.17 this morning (Sunday), says Brussels' prosecutor Gilles Dejemeppe, who confirms they will be extradited to Spain in accordance with the European arrest warrant issued by the latter's National Court judge Carmen Lamela.

A judge in the Belgian capital will be required to issue a verdict on the fate of the 'Catalunya Five' by exactly 09.16 tomorrow (Monday), since national law prevents them from being 'denied freedom' for more than 24 hours, to the minute, without charges or other proceedings commencing.

It is likely, however, that the court will make a decision before then, probably by between 20.00 and 22.00 tonight.

Puigdemont and his four ministers will testify before a judge behind closed doors, one at a time, accompanied only by their solicitors and an interpreter.

Dejemeppe says the politicians' arrest 'gives them greater rights' than if they had been left free, since they are now allowed to peruse the arrest warrant documents, since otherwise neither they nor their lawyers would have been permitted to do so.

The judge will need to decide whether to accept or reject the extradition order and, in the former case, whether to remand the five in custody or release them subject to 'certain terms and conditions' to prevent their flight, such as ordering them to be electronically tagged or their passports handed in to the court.

A warrant of this nature would normally only be rejected if the subject's human rights were unable to be guaranteed, or if he or she was a minor.

Once a decision has been taken, a Court of First Instance will have 15 days to work out whether the extradition order can be carried out.

If any of the parties involved, including Puigdemont and his ministers, disagrees with the final verdict, they will have 15 days to apply to the court of appeal, which will then have 15 days to decide whether to reject or uphold the original verdict.

This means the entire process can take between 45 and 60 days, although a 30-day extension can be applied in exceptional circumstances.

The four ex-members of Catalunya's Parliament who are currently with Puigdemont in Belgium and now in custody are the minister for teaching, Clara Ponsatí; minister for agriculture, Meritxell Serret; minister for health, Antoni Comín and minister for culture, Lluís Puig.