Germany handles extradition of Puigdemont

sleeswijk - The Public Prosecution Service in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein has asked the authorities to hand over the Catalan separatist Carles Puigdemont to Spain. Spain issued a European arrest warrant last month.

It is a formal step in the extradition procedure. The highest judge in the federal state must determine whether this can happen. According to the Public Prosecution Service in Schleswig, the Spanish request must be granted, because the offenses that Madrid inflicts against the Catalan ex-prime minister also appear in German law, although not in exactly the same terms. Puigdemont should remain imprisoned during the procedure, because according to the OM there is a risk of flight.

The government of Puigdemont made a chaotic and illegal attempt in October to separate the Catalonia region from Spain. It caused a political impasse and caused great economic damage to the region. For example, 31.4 billion euros were taken from bank accounts in Catalonia and transferred elsewhere between 1 October and the end of December.

Puigdemont is wanted since October for rebellion, sedition and tampering with government money. He went to Belgium at the end of October. There the Spanish extradition request failed in legal tug-of-war. Last week he traveled from Finland to Belgium in the North German state.

In Belgium, at the end of last year, the extradition of Puigdemont to Spain was fixed because the most serious indictment, rebellion or mutiny, according to the judge, has no equal in Belgian law. Puigdemont could then only be extradited on the basis of incitement and tampering with government money.