A SCOT locked up for more than two weeks in a Catalan jail after being arrested during a demonstration may have to remain there for the rest of this month, according to his lawyer.
William Aitken, who has lived in Barcelona for four years, was arrested on February 27 at a protest in support of singer Pablo Hasel, who was jailed over his lyrics criticising the Spanish monarchy.
He was locked up in Brians prison outside Barcelona and has not been able to see his brother, who also lives in Barcelona, or his Catalan partner.
His lawyer, David Aranda, yesterday told The National that Brexit had kept him in custody. He said: “Public prosecution argues that he participated in the riots against Pablo Hasel’s imprisonment.
“He is kept in jail because he is [a] foreigner, so the judge considered that he is a citizen of the United Kingdom, so it is not [part of the] European Union and [cannot use] the European Order of Detention.
“We had appealed William’s imprisonment to the superior court asking [for] his freedom ... we hope he will be released in two or three weeks.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it was in touch with Spanish authorities.
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