Supreme Court grants jailed leader permission to leave prison for son’s surgery

Spain’s Supreme Court has granted jailed leader Josep Rull permission to leave prison on August 20 for his son’s surgery.

In a decision made public on Friday, the judges agreed to his request. This comes after they had already twice let him leave prison for a short time to learn his child’s diagnosis, which has not been revealed.

He will be temporarily released at 6.30 am and will be able to stay at Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron hospital until the surgery is over and he can visit his under-age son following the procedure.

Rull will not be the first jailed leader to leave prison for a relative’s medical issues; Dolors Bassa was granted two hours to visit her mother, who underwent surgery on August 24, 2018.

None of the nine pro-independence activists and politicians were released pending sentencing after their trial ended in June.