Puigdemont did not go to the Catalonian regional Government Palace on Monday, even though he earlier vowed to “continue working to build a free country” in defiance of Madrid’s decision to sack his government and suspend Catalonia’s independence, which he said went against the will of the people.

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On Monday morning, he posted a photo of the Catalan parliamentary palace, but did not appear there. Later, the Catalan media reported that the sacked regional leader turned up in Brussels alongside with some other members of his cabinet. The Spanish authorities soon confirmed that Puigdemont had indeed traveled to the Belgian capital.

Puigdemont left Spain for Belgium at a time when the Spanish Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had filed a lawsuit against the sacked Catalan leader, other members of his cabinet and some regional MPs on rebellion, sedition and embezzlement charges with the Spanish National Court. In total, the charges have been filed against 12 people, La Vanguardia reports.

Catalonia’s El Periodico newspaper reported that Puigdemont allegedly traveled to Brussels to meet with Flemish politicians. Two days ago Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, expressed its solidarity with the Catalans in their drive for independence.