Independence leader leaves prison to begin voluntary work

Former activist and one of the jailed Catalan independence leaders, Jordi Sànchez, left prison on Tuesday to do voluntary work at the Fundació Canpedró, an organization that helps vulnerable people at risk of social exclusion.

Sentenced to nine years in prison for sedition by Spain's Supreme Court following the 2017 independence bid in Catalonia, Sànchez left Lledoners prison in the afternoon to begin his shift of voluntary work at 4.30pm.

Sànchez is one of a number of the jailed Catalan independence leaders who have the right under the terms of the prison regulations to apply for leave in order to do paid or voluntary work for three days a week.  

Another jailed activist leader, Jordi Cuixart, was the first to be granted prison leave two weeks ago to work in his company and do voluntary work, a decision that the Barcelona prosecutor opposed alleging that the leave should be considered "exceptional."

However since then, jailed former parliament speaker Carme Forcadell has been allowed out of prison to care for a sick relative, as has former minister Dolors Bassa, who was granted three days' leave a week for eight hours a day to take care of an elderly family member.

Sànchez granted 72 hours leave

Also on Tuesday, the supervising judge granted Sànchez three days' prison leave, despite the objections of the prosecutor, arguing that the former activist leader is aware that he should have acted differently during the autumn of 2017.

Under the terms of Sànchez's prison regime, he can apply for 36 days leave each year, a privilege that became available to him in January after he had served a quarter of his nine-year sentence (he had previously spent some two years in custody).