The leader of an outlawed Basque party walked free on bail today, leaving a high-security prison where a judge had ordered him held on suspicion of belonging to armed Basque separatist group ETA.
Arnaldo Otegi said the two days he had spent in jail would not affect the commitment of his Batasuna party to finding a solution to the long-running conflict in the Basque country.
"The Basque nationalist left ... continues to propose the path of communication, dialogue and democratic solutions to overcome the conflict," he said outside Soto del Real prison near Madrid, where he was met by a crowd of cameramen and photographers.
Otegi was freed after his lawyer put up bail of €400,000, half in cash and half as a bank guarantee, a High Court source said.
Under the bail terms, Otegi must report twice weekly to a court near his home. He must hand in his passport and may not leave Spain.
Otegi, whose party has been banned as the political wing of ETA, was jailed early yesterday pending further investigation by Spain's High Court into allegations that he belonged to ETA.
The judge who jailed Otegi said he probably occupied "one of the leadership positions in the terrorist network".