Judges too cowardly to block politics.
Juanra remains imprisoned.

Today the court heard the request for suspension of Juanra's detention. Juanra was released after posting a bail of 20 000 euros on June 25, having spent five months in solitary confinement in Vught. Another judge subsequently decided to extend this freedom on bail up until the moment that Juanra's extradition was final. The internal affairs ministry appealed this decision and won. Juanra reported on October 25 and has been sitting in the prison at Vught ever since.

Juanra himself proved that he is not a flight risk and that locking him up is pointless-- three times now, he has appeared at court hearings knowing full well that each one could end in him being taken away in handcuffs. To dispel any doubt that we find Juanra's imprisonment to be a completely unnecessary, objectionable, and political decision, we called on people to sign a petition and make money available for increasing Juanra's bail. This proved to be a great success. Within one week, more than 128 people had vouched for Juanra with more than 60 000 euros.

To no avail. The political pressure from Internal Affairs and Spain turned out to be too great. The request was handled by the judges Blekxtoon and Bonga-Singmond. They are the very same judges who had previously decided to set Juanra free on bail and to allow him to remain free on bail-- now they dared not challenge the judgement of the higher court.

Juanra, whose extradition Spain is demanding, is officially imprisoned because of the damage that his fleeing would do to relations between the Netherlands and Spain. Now that we have persuasively demonstrated that Juanra is not a flight risk, it is now also completely senseless and scandalous that Juanra has to remain behind bars for the coming months.

With this gesture, the Netherlands is giving the thumbs-up to a country where a witch hunt is currently in full swing against everything that fundamentally criticises the state. Political parties are being banned there, social and political opponents are being silenced, tortured, and imprisoned.

Juanra currently has no chance whatsoever of getting a fair trial in Spain. Instead of actively co-operating with this, the Netherlands, a country that once was renowned for its progressiveness, should make a statement by not extraditing Juanra and freeing him immediately.

The Netherlands and the other EU member states are rushing to flex their muscles when it comes to security. For the sake of a false sense of security, our civil rights and freedoms are being curtailed at a rapid pace. Critics such as Juanra are the first to feel the results of this.

The Juanra support group is convinced that this trend cannot be reversed without a struggle. So we will keep on fighting. Juanra must be free!