The German judge who yesterday interrogated Carles Puigdemont in the local court of Neumünster has stated that the extradition may be considered “inadmissible", and as such it could be denied. The judge's interim order says "there is no doubt that the contents of the European arrest warrant suggest that the extradition of the person sought could be considered inadmissible after a thorough investigation, taking into account all the legal questions involved."
However, the judge, who only carried out the initial formalities of identification and taking Puigdemont's statement, is not competent to decide whether or not the exiled Catalan president will be handed over to Spain. Her role is to ensure that the arrest was made correctly and that the right person was detained. The judge has thus only issued an opinion - although an unusual one - and it is another court which has to give a decision on the substantive issue, specifically, the High Court of Schleswig-Holstein. The extradition, if it moves forward, will have to be authorized in the final instance by the German public prosecutor's office.
The judge emphasises that there is a "risk of flight" and that because of this it is preferable that Carles Puigdemont continues in prison. She notes that he has fixed his place of residence in Belgium, that he was only passing through Germany and that this could be a factor favouring his flight.
Incentive to return to Belgium
The interim court order adds that "it cannot be automatically assumed that the procedures of extradition in Germany will take the same course as in Belgium, which implies a considerable incentive to return to Belgium".
Until the higher court takes a decision, Puigdemont will continue in "continuous custody" in the prison of Neumünster which he entered after being stopped on Sunday on a German highway while travelling overland from Finland. His lawyer Jaume Alonso Cuevillas was expected to visit him on Tuesday afternoon.
The opinion of the German judge of first instance arrives on the same day as the UN's Human Rights Committee has formally accepted the Puigdemont's case on the "violation" of his political rights in Spain. The text of the claim, entitled Puigdemont versus Spain, states the rights that have been violated by the Spanish institutions: the right to stand for election, freedom of association and freedom of expression, and the exiled leader explains to the UN that the repression he faced created an impediment to him being re-elected as Catalan president. With Tuesday's decision, the Spanish state is once again in the news in relation to the United Nations, following last Friday's announcement from the global body that the Spanish government needed to respect the political rights of the imprisoned Catalan leader Jordi Sànchez.