MADRID, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a national arrest warrant for the detention of leading Catalan separatist, Anna Gabriel.
Gabriel is in Switzerland to avoid possible charges of rebellion and sedition related to the Catalan independence referendum on Oct. 1, 2017 and the unilateral declaration of independence later that month.
The warrant was issued after Gabriel failed to attend a scheduled Supreme Court hearing at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The spokesperson for the radical left wing Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) party had said Gabriel would not "go to Madrid", alleging she had already been "condemned" in an interview with a Swiss newspaper on Monday.
The warrant means Gabriel will be arrested if she returns to Spain and is similar to that issued for exiled former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.
Swiss authorities have commented that in principal the country would not extradite Gabriel to Spain.
Folco Galli, the spokesman for the Swiss Department of Justice, explained to reporters that the charges Gabriel would face in Spain were "in all likelihood a political crime", and as such Switzerland "could not act" on an extradition request.
The charge of rebellion in Spain carries a sentence of up to 30 years imprisonment.
