Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont arrested in Germany

Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has been arrested in Germany today as he crossed the border into Denmark.

Puigdemont fled Spain last year after his bid to declare Catalan as independent from Spain; he has since been living in exile in Belgium.

He faces charges of rebellion, rioting, and misappropriation of public funds. Arrest warrants have been issued for five other Catalan separatists.

Read more: Carles Puigdemont and his ex-ministers have been released pending ruling

The Spanish government reactivated an international arrest warrant for Puigdemont on Friday, and asked Finnish authorities to detain him. He was in Finland at the time, promoting the cause of independence for Catalan.

The Finnish authorities failed to arrest Puigdemont because the request from Spain was written in Spanish and there was a delay translating the message into English. Meanwhile, Puigdemont left Finland for Belgium by car, before being arrested this morning.

Germany now has 60 days to determine whether to extradite Puigdemont to Spain. The Catalan politician faces up to 25 years in prison for his role in the illegal referendum in Catalonia.