Former Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu and his right-hand man, Jaume Masferrer, were released on bail on Tuesday after appearing in court, a day after being arrested in the 'Barzagate' scandal, the court reported.

The two individuals under investigation for an alleged defamation campaign on social media against Bartomeu "have appeared before the court, exercised their right to remain silent, and the judge has granted them provisional release," the court statement said.

Both former leaders of the club spent the night in a police station in the Catalan capital.

The case began "in May 2020 for offenses of disloyal administration and corruption in business" and is still "ongoing," so the investigations continue, the statement said.

According to a source close to the case, the club's CEO, Oscar Grau, and the legal director, Román Gómez Ponti, were also arrested and subsequently released.

All arrests were carried out on Monday by the regional Catalan police, who also conducted searches in Barcelona's offices.

The 'Barzagate' scandal, uncovered in 2020 by the radio station Cadena Ser, involved the hiring of a company to allegedly carry out a defamation campaign on social media against Bartomeu and figures like Lionel Messi or Gerard Piqué.

According to the radio, Barcelona had paid one million euros (1.2 million dollars) to allegedly avoid internal controls on I3 Ventures, from which it disassociated itself after the scandal.

The former Barcelona board admitted to hiring this company but denied the defamation campaign.

The case caused an institutional earthquake within Barcelona.

Bartomeu and what remained of his board of directors resigned in late October when they were about to be dismissed by a motion of censure.

Elections will take place on Sunday to determine his successor at the helm of Barcelona.