Switzerland won't extradite Catalan leader for “politically motivated” crimes

In a week in which jailed pro-independence leaders appeared in Spain’s Supreme Court, there was news from Switzerland and Germany on the proceedings to extradite the Catalan leaders in exile there. The Swiss authorities said they would not extradite Esquerra party leader, Marta Rovira, for “purely political reasons.” Meanwhile, the prosecutor’s office in Schleswig-Hosltein said its analysis of the documentation in the European Arrest Warrant for deposed president Carles Puigdemont will be completed within the “next few days.”

On Wednesday, the Swiss parliament’s committee of foreign affairs released a statement confirming that a “process is underway” to demand Rovira’s extradition to Spain. After “taking note” of the proceedings to extradite Rovira for the offenses of rebellion and sedition, the statement declared that “an extradition will be rejected if it is confirmed that the petition is motivated by purely political reasons.” In fact, on previous occasions, the Swiss authorities have made it clear they always reject all politically motivated extradition requests.

Prosecutor’s decision “this week or the next”

In Germany, the court dealing with Puigdemont’s case confirmed that a decision by the prosecutor on how to proceed “will not take much longer,” coming possibly as early as “this week or the next.” A delegation of prosecutors from Spain and Germany met in the Hague, in the Netherlands, last week to exchange information and analyze Puigdemont’s case.