First independence leaders provisionally granted prison leave

Activist leaders, Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart, on Tuesday became the first of the jailed Catalan independence leaders to be granted leave from prison.

The authorities at Lledoners prison granted the two men 48 hours leave, although it will not be official until the Catalan government's justice department has authorized it.

Sànchez and Cuixart, who are serving nine years for sedition, are the first of the leaders to be able to apply for leave because they were the first to be arrested, in October 2017.

According to the prison regime to which the leaders are subject, they are allowed to apply for up to 36 days leave a year, once a quarter of their sentence has been served.

Applications for leave that is less than two days are authorized by the justice department, while those for up to seven days require authorization from a special judge.

Tweeting from prison shortly after the leave was granted, Cuixart wrote "I will continue to apply for all the prisoners' rights that we have."

The other jailed leaders will have to wait longer before they can apply for similar privileges, although some are already preparing applications to be allowed out of prison to work.