Judge keeps four pro-independence leaders in prison

Vice President Junqueras, Home Affairs Minister Forn, and pro-independence civil leaders Cuixart and Sànchez will remain in jail, while six other officials granted 100,000€ bail

A Guardia Civil van leaving a court in Madrid on Friday (by Maria Belmez)
A Guardia Civil van leaving a court in Madrid on Friday (by Maria Belmez) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

December 4, 2017 01:53 PM

The Spanish Supreme Court rejected the release of all Catalan pro-independence leaders who have been in jail for more than a month. The judge kept four officials behind bars: the vice president of the deposed Catalan government, Oriol Junqueras; the home affairs minister, Joaquim Forn; and the two leaders of the two principal pro-independence associations, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart. The judge also decided to grant a 100,000€ bail to the other six incarcerated leaders, all of them members of Puigdemont’s cabinet.

Actions 'directly linked to an explosion of violence'

The judge's decree states that there is no flight risk for any of the ten officials in prison. Yet the court said that there is risk that Junqueras, Forn, Sànchez and Cuixart may commit the same "crimes" again. The ruling also says that the actions by the four leaders that have been kept behind bars are "directly linked to an explosion of violence that, if repeated, leaves no room for correction or satisfaction for those affected by it".