Spanish govt accepts German decision to free Puigdemont

MADRID - The Spanish government said Friday it had accepted the decision made in Germany to free former Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont.

Puigdemont left prison in the north of Germany on Friday after a German court rejected Spain's appeal to extradite him to face charges of rebellion. Although Puigdemont could still be extradited to face the lesser charge of misuse of public funds, that charge carries a much lesser prison sentence that the 30 years he could have received if sent back to Spain and then found guilty of rebellion.

"We have to accept the decision even though some may like it more than others," said Spanish Justice Minister Rafael Catala at a press conference given after Friday's cabinet meeting.

Catala accepted that the judges who made the decision "had made it independently and what we have to do is to accept it."

The leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), Pedro Sanchez also accepted the decision to release Puigdemont, but although he gave his support to the Spanish state and the German judges, he said it was "difficult to have confidence in the political strategy of the Spanish government to solve this crisis."

"We need a political solution both in Catalonia and also in the country as a whole," said Sanchez.

Irene Montero, the Parliamentary spokesperson for the left-wing party Podemos, said the failed attempt to extradite Puigdemont showed the failure of the attempt to "judicialize" the Catalan independence issue by the right-wing government of Mariano Rajoy.

"Now more than ever we need a political and not a judicial solution," said Montero.