In April 2021, our friend Nicolai was imprisoned after being seen at the wrong place at the wrong time. With the broken, flawed and injustice legal system in Spain that has left no possibility to prove his innocence, he has now spent almost a year in prison – has never been before court, never had a chance to speak his case in a trial.

 

The legal system in Spain allows an accused person (not convicted) to be held in prison without a trial for up to 12 months for alleged offences that are punishable by a term of 3 years or less and up to 24 months for offences punishable by a term of 3 years or more. However, if the judge decides there are valid reasons for extending the pre-trial period, the custody can be prolonged with between 6 and 24 months. Consequently, a person in a Spanish prison can be held on remand for up to 4 years – just to find out that the person is not guilty of the accusations.

 

After 11 months in prison, during which Nicolai has been beaten up once by the prison guards for no apparent reason and sharing his cell with murders and unpredictable drug addicts, he has finally been granted provision release with bail. Initially, the bail was 20.000 EUR, but it has now dropped to 10.000 EUR. 

 

Nicolai is a great and joyful guy, a really good friend, and we genuinely believe in his innocence. Until now, he has been able to keep his spirits up in a very admirable way that only a few would be able to do. He has been positive and hopeful, but it is getting more and more difficult the longer this drags out.

 

Since Nicolai has very little family, we, his closest friends, have decided to take some concrete actions on this matter and try to gather as much money as we can in order to bail Nicolai out. We have managed to gather 5.000 EUR already, so we just need an extra push to reach our goal. Therefore, we have created this GoFundMe, hoping that people will help and contribute with whatever they can.

 

So please share this with everyone you know – any amount is highly appreciated.

 

Thank you!