Catalan accused by Spain of running unauthorised referendum was detained in Germany last week

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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”.</s>German prosecutors on Tuesday asked a court to order the extradition of Catalonia’s ousted president Carles Puigdemont on a rebellion charge following his arrest in Germany last month.

The request comes after protests by independence supporters at the weekend in Berlin and Catalonia calling for Puigdemont’s immediate release.

“The prosecutor’s office of Schleswig-Holstein state applied for an extradition arrest warrant against former Catalonian regional president Carles Puigdemont from the superior regional court,” it said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear when the court would rule on Puigdemont’s possible extradition.

Puigdemont was arrested by German police on March 25 as he was travelling from Finland back to Belgium, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since Catalonia’s failed independence bid last October.

The detention came two days after a Spanish judge issued European arrest warrants for Puigdemont and other fugitive separatist leaders.

They have been ordered to stand trial for rebellion, misuse of public funds and disobeying the state for organising last year’s referendum on Catalan independence, which Madrid deemed illegal.

Puigdemont’s arrest has sent tensions soaring at home, triggering a wave of protests in the wealthy northeastern Spanish region.

German judges have ordered Puigdemont to remain in custody in the northern town of Neumuenster as they mull Spain’s request for him to be handed over.

They have 60 days to make a decision.

German media say the request has been complicated by the fact that rebellion, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail in Spain, is not a crime under German law.

However the prosecutor’s office argued in its statement that the rebellion charge “contains in essence the accusation of calling an unconstitutional referendum despite violent riots that could be expected” matching the German charge of “treason”.

“Word-for-word conformance between the German and Spanish criminal codes is thus not legally required,” it said.</s>German prosecutors have asked a court to permit the extradition of 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.

Puigdemont has been detained in Germany since 25 March. Spain accuses the 55-year-old of rebellion in organising an unauthorised referendum.

The Schleswig court is likely to take several days to decide whether to extradite Puigdemont.

His lawyers have urged the German government to intervene in the case, citing the “political dimension.”</s>Prosecutors in Germany are to seek a warrant to extradite the former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to Spain.

Mr Puigdemont was detained by German authorities last month at the Danish border.

The former regional leader is wanted in Spain, where he faces charges of 'rebellion' and misuse of public funds - accusations arising from his role in the disputed Catalan independence referendum.

Mr Puigdemont has been in self-imposed exile from Catalonia and Spain since late last year.

Facing a European arrest warrant, prosecutors in Germany will now seek a court's permission to extradite Mr Puigdemont.

In a statement, officials said: "The prosecutor's office of Schleswig-Holstein state applied for an extradition arrest warrant against former Catalonian regional president Carles Puigdemont from the Higher Regional Court in Schleswig-Holstein."

The prosecutors said the rebellion charges - defined as 'an unconstitutional act despite expectations of violent disturbances' - have a general equivalent in German law, which is among the requirements for extradition applications.

It is not yet known when the German court will make its decision.

Associated Press reports that the former regional lawyers' will ask the court to reject the decision, and have also called on the German government to intervene over the case's 'political dimension' in Spain.</s>Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont’s return to face Spanish courts moved one step closer on Tuesday when German state prosecutors asked a court to permit his return.

More than a week after Mr Puigdemont was detained near the Danish border, a German court now has to decide whether to act on a European Arrest Warrant (EWA) issued by Spain.

Mr Puigdemont had been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium for five months since an October referendum and declaration of independence, which was viewed as illegal by Madrid. He was arrested nine days ago after crossing the Danish border on a road trip from Helsinki to Brussels.

Spain is seeking his return on three charges: rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds to run the referendum campaign – charges that carry a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

The Schleswig-Holstein state prosecutor said on Tuesday that after “intense” study of the warrant from Madrid it found that rebellion and embezzlement charges had equivalents in German law. They also recommended Mr Puigdemont remain in prison in Neumünster, an hour north of Hamburg, as he represents a flight risk.

Now it falls to the higher regional court in Schleswig to decide whether to act on the prosecutor’s recommendation. In addition it will rule on whether the transfer in itself is legal, in particular whether mutual trust exists with the Spanish judiciary – the basis of EWA procedure.

“At the moment, it is too early to say when a decision . . . on the application for the extradition arrest warrant may be expected,” the court said in a statement.

Any final decision by the three-judge court can be appealed by Mr Puigdemont to Germany’s constitutional court. His legal team have urged the German government to intervene in the case and have filed an appeal against the charges. They take issue with the misuse of funds charge and that of rebellion, saying there were only isolated incidents of violence around the October referendum.

Germany’s federal government has said it will not intervene in what it views as an internal Spanish matter, nor will it get involved in the judicial process in Schleswig-Holstein.

At the weekend Mr Puigdemont told supporters from his prison cell that he would not give up nor be cowed in his battle with Madrid, which he accuses of becoming “more and more authoritarian”.

“We have to go on, we have to go on the way we are, defending our rights, rights that are recognised by the UN as we have a total right to decide our future,” he said.

“Let’s go on doing things the way we do them, which is non-violent and civilised as we have shown the world in the past years. That is how Catalans do things.”

Mr Puigdemont has said he is being treated well in his German prison and is allowed make phone calls and participated in supervised video conferences.

A weekend march in Berlin drew up to 500 people, according to organisers, protesting against the detention of Mr Puigdemont and two dozen other Catalan leaders. Five separatist leaders in prison in Spain say they cannot get a fair trial.

German opposition parties have urged EU mediation in the long-running feud, accusing the Spanish courts of being biased against the Catalan separatists.

“The Spanish judicial system has obviously cobbled together a politically motivated charge in accusing Puigdemont of misusing state funds for carrying out the referendum,” said Sevim Dagdelen of the Left Party. “The Catalonian conflict should be solved politically instead of further criminalising those involved in it.”</s>The request comes after protests by independence supporters at the weekend in Berlin and Catalonia calling for Carles Puigdemont's immediate release

BERLIN, Germany – German prosecutors on Tuesday, April 3, asked a court to order the extradition to Spain of Catalonia's ousted president Carles Puigdemont on a rebellion charge following his arrest in Germany last month.

The request comes after protests by independence supporters at the weekend in Berlin and Catalonia calling for Puigdemont's immediate release.

"The prosecutor's office of Schleswig-Holstein state applied for an extradition arrest warrant against former Catalonian regional president Carles Puigdemont from the superior regional court," it said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear when the court would rule on Puigdemont's possible extradition.

Puigdemont was arrested by German police on March 25 as he was traveling from Finland back to Belgium, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since Catalonia's failed independence bid last October.

The detention came two days after a Spanish judge issued European arrest warrants for Puigdemont and other fugitive separatist leaders.

They have been ordered to stand trial for rebellion, misuse of public funds and disobeying the state for organizing last year's referendum on Catalan independence, which Madrid deemed illegal.

Puigdemont's arrest has sent tensions soaring at home, triggering a wave of protests in the wealthy northeastern Spanish region.

German judges have ordered Puigdemont to remain in custody in the northern town of Neumuenster as they mull Spain's request for him to be handed over.

They have 60 days to make a decision.

German media say the request has been complicated by the fact that rebellion, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail in Spain, is not a crime under German law.

However the prosecutor's office said that "after intensive review" it concluded that the rebellion charge "contains in essence the accusation of calling an unconstitutional referendum despite violent riots that could be expected," thus matching the German charge of "treason".

"Word-for-word conformance between the German and Spanish criminal codes is thus not legally required," it said.

The superior regional court confirmed it had received the request, adding that it was "undetermined when a decision on the application can be expected".

The court must first decide if there is a legal basis to put Puigdemont in pre-extradition custody by reviewing the written request from Spain. It will then rule on the extradition bid itself.

He can appeal an order of extradition to a German federal court, a course his lawyers have said they will pursue.

Puigdemont has already filed an appeal in Spain against a decision to prosecute him, arguing the rebellion charge against him is not justified.

The 85-page appeal, seen by Agence France-Presse on Monday, April 2, asks that the Spanish Supreme Court's "actions" be declared "null" 10 days after Judge Pablo Llarena said 25 Catalan separatist leaders – including Puigdemont – would be prosecuted over the region's secession bid.

In the appeal, Puigdemont's lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas demands that the court drop the charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds against Puigdemont and another of his clients – former regional minister Clara Ponsati.

Both fled Spain for Belgium after the failed independence push. Ponsati then left for Scotland where she was detained after Spain issued European arrest warrants against fugitive separatist leaders, and freed on bail.

Alonso-Cuevillas also wants the court to drop charges of misuse of public funds and disobedience against another client, former regional minister Lluis Puig.

The appeal states that under Spanish law, the rebellion offense, which can carry up to 30 years in prison, implies there was a violent uprising.

But it maintains that if there was any violence before or on October 1, the day when an independence referendum was held in Catalonia despite a court ban, it was "isolated" and did not justify the rebellion offense. – Rappler.com</s>German prosecutors have asked a court in Germany to permit the extradition of the former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain.

The prosecutors in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein applied for extradition of Puigdemont after “extensive examination” of the European arrest warrant issued by Spain against him and five other fugitive separatist leaders.

The prosecutors also ask that Puigdemont is to remain in jail until the court decides on his charges.

It is not immediately clear when the court will rule on his possible extradition.

Puigdemont was arrested by German police on March 25 as he was travelling from Finland back to Belgium, where he was living in self-imposed exile since Catalonia’s independence referendum last October.

Spain is seeking the former president’s extradition under charges of misuse of public funds in relation to Catalonia’s independence declaration, as well as “rebellion” in organising a referendum, which Madrid has deemed illegal.

The request by prosecutors for his extradition comes after demonstrations by independence supporters last weekend in Berlin and Catalonia, calling for Puigdemont’s release.

An extradition request requires that the conduct that gave rise to the arrest warrant in Spain would also be punishable under German criminal law.

While the charge of rebellion does not apply in Germany, the state prosecutor said on Tuesday that it could be equated with high treason in German law.

A lower court in Germany had already ordered Puigdemont to remain in custody in the northern town of Neumuenster as judicial authorities decide on his extradition.

They have 60 days to make a decision.

Puigdemont’s lawyers said they will appeal the order of extradition to a German federal court.

In Spain, Puigdemont has already filed an appeal against a decision to prosecute him, arguing that the rebellion charge against him is unjustified.

His lawyers have also urged the German government to intervene in the case.

German media has reported, however, that Angela Merkel’s government has already decided not to veto any decision made by the court.</s>The public prosecutor for Germany's northern state of Schleswig-Holstein announced on Tuesday that it had requested the extradition of former Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont.

Read more: Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont detained in Germany

Puigdemont is being charged in Spain with rebellion and misuse of public funds, for his involvement in the Catalan independence referendum of October 2017. The former leader was living in self-imposed exile in Belgium and was in Finland on March 24, when Spain reactivated the European arrest warrant against him. Puigdemont was arrested when he entered Germany on March 25, as he was making his way back to Belgium.

Puigdemont's case has now gone to Schleswig-Holstein's highest court, where a so-called senate of three judges will decide whether the request for extradition has the necessary substance and whether Puigdemont should continue to be held.

"At the moment, it is too early to say when a decision by the Senate for Criminal Matters on the application for the extradition arrest warrant may be expected," the court said in a statement.

The German government said on March 30 that it would not interfere or veto any court decision on Puigdemont's fate, as the act would be considered a "legal affront" by the federal government against the judicial system.

Charge of rebellion amounts to high treason in Germany

Whether or not Puigdemont will be extradited hinges upon whether the crimes he's accused of in Spain are also illegal in Germany. In a press statement, the prosecutor's office said that the Spanish crime of rebellion was the equivalent of the German offense of high treason, even though the two laws in question were worded differently.

Prosecutors also argued that it was reasonable for Puigdemont to be brought up on charges of misuse of public funds since the Catalonia independence referendum cost more than a million and a half euros.

Read more: German lawyer says Berlin cannot extradite former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont

The prosecutors said that Puigdemont should continue to be kept in custody because he represents a flight risk.

After Puigdemont's arrests, supports of the Catalonian leader took to the streets in various cities in Spain and Germany to demand his release. Members of Germany's Left Party have also visited Puigdemont in the prison where he is being held in the northern German city of Neumünster.

"The Spanish judicial system has obviously cobbled together a politically motivated charge in accusing Puigdemont of misusing state funds for carrying out the referendum," said the Left Party's Sevim Dagdelen in a statement. "The Catalonia conflict should be solved politically instead of further criminalizing those involved in it."

The other German parties have said that Puigdemont's extradition is a matter for German courts. According to the guidelines of European law, Puigdemont's case should be decided within 60 days of his arrest, although no date has been set for the higher court in Schleswig-Holstein to render its decision. Puigdemont has the option of filing a challenge to Germany's Federal Constitutional Court, should the decision go against him.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>Prosecutors in Germany are seeking the extradition of former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain, where he could face trial for his role in organising an independence referendum.

Prosecutors in Germany are seeking the extradition of former Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to Spain, where he could face trial for his role in organising an independence referendum.

Mr Puigdemont was detained in Germany on March 25 as he attempted to drive from Finland to Belgium, where he currently resides.

Prosecutors in the northern town of Schleswig said they have asked the regional court to formally put him in pre-extradition custody following “intensive examination” of the European arrest warrant issued by Spain’s supreme court on March 23. If the court agrees to the request, prosecutors would still need to issue an order signing off on Mr Puigdemont’s extradition.

In addition to rebellion, Madrid accuses the 55-year-old of misuse of public funds. Schleswig prosecutors said in a statement they consider the charge of rebellion to have an equivalent in German law – one of the requirements for extradition to take place.

“The accusation of rebellion contains at its core the allegation of carrying out an unconstitutional referendum despite expectations of violent disturbances,” the prosecutors said. They noted that during a meeting with police on September 28, Mr Puigdemont was warned that violence might escalate on the day of the October 1 referendum, but his government went through with it anyway.

In an interview from jail, published on Monday, Mr Puigdemont insisted the campaign for the Spanish region’s independence was nonviolent. The Schleswig court is likely to take several days to decide on the prosecutors’ request.</s>The German prosecution is processing Catalan ex-president Carles Puigdemont's extradition to Spain from the prison where he is currently being detained, because of the risk that he might flee if allowed to leave on bail. Following his arrest on 25 March, as he crossed the German border on his way back to Belgium from Finland, a local German court has urged the territorial high court - which has the final say on Puigdemont's fate - to extradite the former Catalan president. It was it acting at ...
German prosecutor requests permission to extradite Carles Puigdemont to Spain. Puigdemont is in preventive detention in Germany since his March 25 arrest under a European Arrest Warrant on the grounds of risk of absconcion.