UPDATE - Ex-Catalan leader released from jail in Germany

UPDATES WITH COMMENTS BY PUIGDEMONT

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was set free from prison on Friday after a regional court in Germany ordered his conditional release pending a decision on his extradition to Spain.

Speaking to reporters, after his release from a prison in Neumunster, Puigdemont called for a political solution to tensions between Spain and the region of Catalonia.

“The time for dialogue has arrived,” he said, and called for reviving political talks between Madrid and Catalan authorities.

“There is no excuses for the Spanish authorities to not start a political dialogue with the Catalan political leaders in order to find a political solution of our demands,” he added.

Puigdemont has also called for the immediate release of his party colleagues, who were arrested in Spain.

“It’s a shame for Europe to have political prisoners,” he said.

The separatist leader was arrested on March 25 in northern Germany, after Spanish authorities reactivated a European arrest warrant on charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds.

The Higher Regional Court in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein ruled on Thursday that Spain’s extradition request based on charges of “corruption” was admissible, and said it would seek more information on these accusations.

But the court ruled out Puigdemont’s extradition based on charges of “rebellion”, highlighting that it was not compatible with the German law.

It ordered the release of former Catalan leader on bail at €75,000 ($91,786).

The 55-year-old politician led a parliamentary session last year that saw separatist lawmakers vote for the region of Catalonia to declare independence from Spain.

He and 12 other separatist leaders were officially charged with rebellion.

Since October, Puigdemont was living in Belgium.