Schleswig prosecutors officially announced that they have already requested Carles Puigdemon’s extradition to Spain. On Tuesday, the ex-leader of Catalan separatists assured German prosecutors that he can govern from Belgium.
Carles Puigdemont is soon to be put under arrest for extradition purposes after “intensive examination” of the European arrest warrant issued by Spain, said the German prosecutor in the announcement on Tuesday. Since 25 March when the Catalan leader has been detained at a prison in the town of Neumünster, his case got the fast development.
“There are only two options: in prison, I would not be able to address people, write, meet people,”
the 55-year-old Puigdemont said. He is risking now to be arrested on charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds if he returns to Spain. The government in Madrid has warned it will take the matter to court and keep direct control over Catalonia if Puigdemont tries to govern from Belgium.
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 Tuesday it believed it could be equated with high treason in German law.
The case is very complex, and the EU countries should stop any attempt of separatism. However, 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.
