Demonstrators protest ex-Catalan leader's detention in Germany

Demonstrators braved the cold and wet weather in Berlin, Germany, on Easter Sunday to protest the detention of former Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont.

Several hundred people carried banners and Catalan independence flags as they marched from the city's iconic Brandenburg Gate through the country's capital.

They called for his release from a prison in the Schleswig-Holstein city of Neumuenster where he has been held for one week.

Puigdemont fled Spain five months ago and has been living in self-imposed exile in Brussels before he was arrested on an international warrant issued by a Spanish judge on the German-Danish border.

One protester, Xavi Urgell, drove 17 hours from his home near Barcelona to the prison before joining the demonstration in Berlin.

"We are here to demonstrate, to show that we are united and that we need to take the next step forward which is independence," he said.

The ex-president is waiting to learn whether he will be deported to Spain to face charges of rebellion, sedition and embezzlement which, if convicted, could see him jailed for 25 years.