Spanish public prosecutors have rejected a three-day prison leave that the prisoner supervisory board had already agreed to grant to Catalan pro-independence activist Jordi Sànchez on January 16th this year. Their argument: that such a leave is premature because there still remains so much time - more than four years - before Sànchez could be eligible for probation, and furthermore, it is not justified due to the prisoner's "lack of remorse" for his actions. These are the same reasons given a week ago for denying a similar leave requested by Jordi Cuixart.
The final say on the granting of these 72-hour prison leaves asked for by the two independence movement leaders will be given by a prison supervision judge. This judge will have to decide whether to accept the prosecutors' argument, which in the submission today states that such permits are only a possibility and not a right. At the same time, says the text, the essential purpose of granting leave is "social reintegration and re-education."
Both Sánchez and Cuixart already meet two of the main requirements for being able to start spending short periods outside the prison: they have fulfilled a quarter of their sentences - in both cases, they were sentenced to nine years' jail for sedition - and they are classified under a standard prison regime. However, the prosecutors maintain that these two conditions "do not mean per se that leave should be granted". What is key, they say, is the "criterion of opportunity within the treatment programme" being followed by the prisoner.
According to the submission, in this particular case, "it is not appropriate to authorize the proposed leave due to the presence of negative elements which must be assessed unfavourably". It details as counterproductive the "failure to recognize the crime, the distance in time from completion of the full sentence and the failure to have carried out a specific treatment programme". The prosecutors' text also states that another purpose of this type of leave is for the inmate to adapt gradually to life at liberty, and in the case of Sànchez they consider that it is too early, given that he will not be able to leave jail on probation until July 2024.
The prosecutors' decision is related to the leave application granted yesterday by the prisoner supervisory board, allowing Sànchez and Cuixart to leave the prison to work and only return to Lledoners at night, under the article 100.2 of the prison regulations. This application has not been studied yet by the prosecutors and, according to sources consulted by this newspaper, they will not do so until the end of next week. However, the decision made and communicated by the supervisory board is an executive one, and therefore, can be applied automatically at present, without waiting for the court decision.
On January 25th, Jordi Sànchez was released from prison for his first, and so far only, two-day prison leave. One week earlier, Jordi Cuixart had enjoyed a similar 48-hour release.