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German prosecutors ask court to extradite Carles Puigdemont to Spain German prosecutors ask court to extradite Carles Puigdemont to Spain
(about 1 hour later)
German prosecutors have asked a court to permit the extradition of former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain. German prosecutors have asked a court to permit the extradition of the former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain.
Prosecutors in the northern town of Schleswig said on Tuesday they have submitted a request to the regional court following “intensive examination” of the European arrest warrant issued by Spain. Prosecutors in the northern town of Schleswig announced on Tuesday morning they have requested Puigdemont to be put under arrest for extradition purposes after “intensive examination” of the European arrest warrant issued by Spain.
Puigdemont has been detained in Germany since 25 March. Spain accuses the 55-year-old of rebellion in organising an unauthorised referendum. The former Catalan president has been detained at a prison in the town of Neumünster since he was picked up on 25 March, shortly after crossing over the Danish border into northern Germany.
The Schleswig court is likely to take several days to decide whether to extradite Puigdemont. Puigdemont had been living in self-imposed exile since Catalonia’s unilateral declaration of independence in October, but left the country last month to give a series of talks in Finland.
His lawyers have urged the German government to intervene in the case, citing the “political dimension.” Spain is seeking the 55-year-old’s extradition under charges of misuse of public funds in relation to that declaration, as well as “rebellion” in organising an unauthorised referendum.
More soon … An extradition request requires that the conduct that gave rise to the arrest warrant in Spain would also be punishable under German criminal law. But while the charge of rebellion has not been part of the German criminal code since the 1960s, the state prosecutor said on on Tuesday it believed it could be equated with high treason in German law.
The Schleswig court is likely to take several days to decide whether to extradite Puigdemont, and could yet come to a different conclusion.
The Catalan separatist’s lawyers have filed an appeal and urged the German government to intervene in the case, citing its “political dimension”. The appeal states that the offence of rebellion, which under Spanish law can fetch up to 30 years in prison, was unjustified since there were only isolated instances of violence before the independence referendum on 1 October.
However, German media is reporting that Angela Merkel’s government has already decided not to veto any decision made by the judiciary.
“Spain is a democratic state where rule of law exists”, the chancellor’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said last week. “It remains the conviction of the German government that a solution to this Catalonia conflict has to be found within Spain’s legal and constitutional order”.
Carles PuigdemontCarles Puigdemont
CataloniaCatalonia
SpainSpain
GermanyGermany
EuropeEurope
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