WILLIAM Aitken, the Scot held in a Barcelona jail for a month after Brexit because authorities decreed him a “flight risk” is due to appear in court next week.
It comes after his arrest last month during protests supporting jailed Catalan rapper Pablo Hasel.
The 30-year-old, who has lived in Barcelona for more than four years, will appear at the city’s Provincial Court which will decide whether he should be freed pending his trial on alleged public order offences related to the demonstrations.
His court appearance will come two days before his 31st birthday.
David Aranda, Aitken’s lawyer, told The National: “The court could make a decision next Wednesday or maybe decide later.
“They are not obliged to make a decision the same day.”
Aitken was arrested on February 17 – the second night of protests backing the artist, who was imprisoned because of his song lyrics criticising the Spanish monarch and allegedly glorifying terrorism.
Seven people were arrested the same night as Aitken and six were released the next day.
He was the only one to be held in pre-trial detention because he has a UK passport.
Now that the UK has left the EU and there is no extradition agreement in force, he was remanded in a move his lawyer called “a legal barbarity”.
“The Brexit agreement regulates a system of extraditions similar to that of European arrest warrants and allows the return of [accused] people in both directions, regardless of their nationality,” said Aranda.
Aitken’s partner, Fernanda Soler, yesterday said she would be contacting Aitken’s friends and supporters to cheer him on at the court.
“I’m trying to get all his friends and people who have shown their backing for him to be outside the court supporting,” she said.
“At the weekend we are going to meet up to make the banners and placards with his name on them to take to the court.”
She added: “I’m excited but also a little scared.”
Soler said Aitken had gone skateboarding on the night of his detention and she was unaware of what had happened until the following morning.
“I stayed home and watched a movie,” she said. “Since he was staying [out], I told him I would wait for him, but he didn’t come back.”
Officers who arrested him allowed him to send her a voice message telling her he would be spending the night in custody.
“It just came to our attention then,” she said. “We watched as all the detainees from that night were released, except for William.”
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