Ex-Catalonia regional chief Puigdemont released from Italian jail
Al Jazeera
Judge on Sardinia rules Carles Puigdemont can go free ahead of an October 4 hearing on Spain extradition.
Catalan separatist leader Carle Puigdemont has been released from jail on the Italian island of Sardinia after a judge ruled that he could go free ahead of an October 4 extradition hearing.
Puigdemont left the jail in Sassari on Friday, a day after he had been detained by police. He is wanted in Spain for sedition for leading a 2017 secession bid for the Catalonia region, where he served as regional president at the time.
Hours before his release, Judge Plinia Clara Azzena ruled that Puigdemont was free to travel without restrictions. The order came after the public prosecutor’s office agreed he was neither a flight nor a security risk, but stressed that Puigdemont’s arrest when he entered Italy, on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by Spain, was legal.
