Germany sets Puigdemont free on bail
Ex-catalan leader asks that others be freed, too
NEUMUENSTER, Germany — Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont walked out of a German prison Friday after posting $92,000 bail, demanding that Spanish authorities release fellow Catalan separatists and open a dialogue on his region’s future.
Puigdemont was detained by police in northern Germany on March 25 after crossing the border from Denmark. Spain is seeking his extradition for rebellion and misuse of public funds in organizing an unauthorized referendum last year on Catalonia’s independence from Spain.
The state court in Schleswig said Thursday that the charge of rebellion wouldn’t warrant extradition because the equivalent German law presumes the use or threat of force sufficient to bend the will of authorities. Puigdemont can still be extradited on the less serious charge of misuse of funds.
A smiling Puigdemont emerged into the sunshine from the prison in Neumuenster, where he has been held for nearly two weeks, thanking staff “for their professionality and for their respect” and the inmates for “their solidarity and help for me to adapt quickly to the situation.”
He also sent a defiant message to Spanish authorities.
“I call for the immediate release for all of my colleagues still in Spanish prisons,” he said, speaking in English. “It’s a shame for Europe to still have political prisoners.”
“The time for dialogue has arrived,” he declared, arguing that years of Catalan demands for dialogue have met with only a “violent and repressive response.”
“Now, seeing the fall of that response, it’s time to do politics,” Puigdemont added. He said there are no excuses for the Spanish authorities to avoid “a political dialogue with the Catalan political leaders in order to find a political solution of our demands, not by criminal law.”
He later wrote on Twitter: “I have left the prison and am heading to Berlin.”
Puigdemont can move freely in Germany pending a decision on his extradition, though he must report to police once a week and inform prosecutors of any change in residence. He can’t leave Germany without prosecutors’ agreement.