SIX Catalan politicians were granted bail yesterday, but a judge ruled that four other prominent pro-independence figures must remain in jail.
Former justice minister Carles Mundo and ex-foreign policy chief Raul Romeva were among those given bail set at €100,000 (£88,000).
However, two other sacked ministers – vice-president Oriol Junqueras and ex-interior minister Joaquim Forn – and leading activists Jordi Sanchez and Jordi Cuixart – will remain locked up. Judge Pablo Llarena ruled they were responsible for instigating violence in the run-up to the October 1 independence vote.
The decision, announced one month after the 10 were taken into custody on charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement, leaves candidates for the forthcoming Catalan elections to run their campaigns from Spanish jails.
The fate of ousted president Carles Puigdemont, who is fighting extradition from Belgium, remains undecided.
He and four allies have refused to return to Spain to face the charges. They appeared in court in Brussels yesterday but a decision on their extradition was postponed until December 14 – exactly one week before Catalonia goes to the polls.
Yesterday, Paul Bekaert, Puigdemont’s defence lawyer, argued that the Spanish charges, which carry punishments of decades in prison, are not punishable in Belgium, and so grounds for extradition do not apply.
He also “highlighted the danger for the impediment of their human rights” in Spain, which provoked strong condemnation when photographs were published revealing violent attacks on voters by police during the October referendum.
Despite his self-imposed exile, Puigdemont is heading his party’s campaign for the December 21 election. It was called after Spanish leader Mariano Rajoy sacked the Catalan cabinet in response to its declaration of independence.
Rajoy, who critics have compared to Franco over his handling of the situation, hopes the election will settle tensions in Catalonia and end the political crisis, which is the worst to hit Spain in 40 years.
However, the vote is shaping up as a plebiscite between those for and against independence, with polls predicting a close race.
Campaigning officially begins at midnight tonight.
Junqueras, who tops the list for the left-republican ERC party, last week pledged to abandon efforts to seek unilateral independence, alongside other political detainees, in the hope of securing release.
ERC was part of the former Catalan ruling coalition with Puigdemont’s conservative party, but now leads the polls ahead of the new election.
However, the judge said it remained to be seen if his promise to abide by Spanish law was “truthful and real”.
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