Germany - Catalan Leader Puigdemont Released On Bail, Spain Furious

To the great dismay of the Spanish government, the German judicial system has released Catalan Leader Carles Puigdemont from prison as they felt the rebellion charges were not applicable in Germany. Mr Puigdemont could still be charged with corruption but was able to walk out of the prison in Schleswig Holstein where he was kept for 10 days yesterday.

In a heavy blow to the Spanish government, the local court in northern Germany ruled that the main charge against Mr Puigdemont, that of rebellion against the Spanish state, could not be used by Germany to extradite him to Spain as the comparable German charge of treason specifies violence, something Mr Puigdemont has not used.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: Carles Puigdemont has been released on bail by a German court, which also ruled out a charge of rebellion <a href="https://t.co/IYtVVVOkyQ">https://t.co/IYtVVVOkyQ</a></p>&mdash; POLITICO Europe (@POLITICOEurope) <a href="https://twitter.com/POLITICOEurope/status/981950086006616064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The lesser charge of misuse of public funds, or corruption if you will, is a possible usage for extradition. The ruling comes as a severe blow to the Spanish government whilst it was received with welcoming applause in Barcelona.

Mr Puigdemont's twitter account late Thursday read: "See you tomorrow. Thank you very much to everybody!"

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="ca" dir="ltr">Ens veiem demà. Moltes gràcies a tothom! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LlibertatPresosPol%C3%ADtics?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LlibertatPresosPolítics</a> 🎗 <a href="https://t.co/quG18LKvQp">pic.twitter.com/quG18LKvQp</a></p>&mdash; Carles Puigdemont 🎗 (@KRLS) <a href="https://twitter.com/KRLS/status/981967240093462528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The court explained in its reasoning for releasing Mr Puigdemont that: “There is a risk of flight. But since extradition on rebellion charges is impermissible, the risk of flight is substantially lessened.”

The Spanish Justice Minister Mr Rafael Catala said that the government in Madrid had no choice but to "respect" the German court's decision, whilst adding "some judicial decisions please us; others less so.

Source:

http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/staatsanwaltschaft-wartet-auf-eingang-der-kautionszahlung-15529027/voller-hoffnung-anhaenger-15529038.html