German govt won't interfere in Puigdemont's extradition, according to 'Der Spiegel'

The German government will not interfere if Courts decide to extradite Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont back to Spain, according to sources from the Angela Merkel executive quoted by 'Der Spiegel'. Ministers from the federal government decided that the extradition process should remain exclusively judicial and no politician should get involved. In fact, they feared that any attempts to interfere would cause "political-judicial" tensions. Moreover, the powers to decide on extraditions remain at the land level, not the federal one: in this case, it is up to the state of Schlewsig-Holstein to decide.

The general prosecutor of Schleswig-Holstein is to decide next week whether he accepts or not the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) against Puigdemont. The prosecutor will have to say for which crimes, if any, he would want Puigdemont to be returned to Spain. The Catalan leader is wanted in Spain for an alleged crime of violent rebellion and misuse of public funds. The Spanish Supreme Court also mentioned corruption in its European Arrest Warrant, but Puigdemont is not being formally prosecuted for this crime in Spain. Corruption, however, is one of the 32 offences that allow for quicker extraditions between EU member states.

If the prosecutor decides to execute the EAW it is then up to the judge to decide. The process could take up to three months. Puigdemont's lawyer in Germany said he could even consider taking the issue to the country Constitutional Court. Law experts suggest that an extradition back to Spain is not straight-forward: rebellion –and its equivalent crime in Germany, 'high treason'- require an act of violence and Catalan pro-independence leaders did not commit any violent acts.