Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont leaves Italian jail after arrest in Sardinia

Catalan separatist leader Puigdemont has left the Italian jail after his arrest in Sardinia.

Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont was allowed to leave jail in Sardinia today, Friday, September 24, after an Italian judge ruled that he could go free pending an October 4 hearing on his extradition to Spain, where he is wanted on charges of sedition.

Puigdemont, the former president of Spain’s Catalonia region and a member of the European Union parliament, left the jail in Sassari a day after he had been detained by police. He had been invited to attend a Catalan cultural event and a meeting of Sardinian independence sympathizers on the Mediterranean island.

“Spain never misses the opportunity to be ridiculous. #NoSurrender,” Puigdemont tweeted after he left the jail. Mobbed by reporters outside the gates, he said of his less than 24 hours behind bars: “Very good, no problem. The police and prison guards were very professional, very serious people.”

The judge in charge of the case in Sassari who authorised his release ruled hours earlier that Puigdemont was free to travel without restrictions.

Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League, said: “We have trouble arresting Italian delinquents and we arrest parliamentarians from other nations?” adding that he “hoped Italy would not carry out vendettas or justice at the request of other countries.”

Senator Roberto Rampi of the leftist Democrats said: “I find it beyond any logic to arrest an MEP in office. He must be immediately released.”

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