BASQUE nationalist leader Arnaldo Otegi received an enthusiastic welcome from supporters on his release from more than six years in prison yesterday.

The Sortu (Create) party general secretary walked free from jail in Logrono, where he had been held since 2009 for trying to rebuild banned separatist party Batasuna.

He was also prosecuted for glorifying terrorism by comparing a jailed member of armed group Eta to Nelson Mandela.

He was met at the gate by dozens of supporters chanting “independence.”

From a platform outside the prison, Mr Otegi said: “Today, a political prisoner goes free,” and he pledged to keep struggling for peace and independence.

Last month, Mr Otegi was denied a visit from former US political prisoner Angela Davis.

Free Otegi, Free Them All campaign spokesman Urko Aiartza said that a homecoming event had been arranged for last night in Mr Otegi’s home town of Elgoibar.

The welcome party will include a concert by Basque ska-punk musician Fermin Muguruza, a prominent supporter of the “Free Otegi, bring Basque political prisoners home” declaration.

A mass rally has also been arranged for Saturday at the San Sebastian indoor velodrome, which seats up to 8,500 people.

Mr Aiartza said that National Court judge Eloy Velasco had ordered police to attend the event to identify anyone committing “glorification of terrorism offences.”

Founded in 2011, Sortu rejects violence and argues only for an independent Basque country within the European Union.

The party was briefly banned from contesting elections that year on the grounds that it was another iteration of Batasuna.