German prosecutors seek to extradite former Catalan leader

BERLIN - German prosecutors announced on Tuesday that they are seeking to extradite the former leader of Spain's Catalonia Carles Puigdemont, who was recently arrested in Germany.

The attorney general in Germany's northern state of Schleswig-Holstein has applied to the Higher Regional Court for an extradition order of Puigdemont, Deutsche Presse Agentur(DPA) confirmed.

Prosecutors said after close examination of the warrant for Puigdemont, issued by Spain's supreme court, they found "equivalences with the charge of rebellion in German criminal law" and therefore present the extradition request.

The chief public prosecution office of Schleswig-Holstein on Tuesday urged German judicial authorities to comply with a Spanish request for the extradition of Puigdemont.

"A valid extradition request has been presented, the implementation of a lawful extradition process is to be expected, and the arrest is justified by the risk of flight," a statement by the chief public prosecution office read.

As a consequence of Germany's federal constitution, the Higher Regional Court of Schleswig-Holstein is now tasked with deliberating over the Spanish extradition request for Puigdemont.

In a first step, the court will assess whether to accept the formal application by the state chief public prosecution office to place the suspect in extradition custody on the basis of evidence provided by Madrid.

A spokesperson for the Schleswig-Holstein state prosecution office further told press that they had received documents from Spain suggesting the illicit use of 1.6 million euros ($1.97 million) in public funds to stage the Catalonian independence referendum.

It remains unclear at this point, whether German judicial authorities will pursue this line of legal reasoning further or focus on the charge of "rebellion". Puigdemont has already appealed charges of "rebellion" and embezzlement at the Spanish supreme court.

Puigdemont's German attorney Till Dunckel told press on Tuesday that his client would legally challenge the application for extradition custody by state prosecutors. The former Catalan leader has been held in temporary custody in the town of Neumuenster since his arrest.

Puigdemont was arrested on March 25 after entering Germany from Denmark.

He had been living in exile in Brussels after failed attempt to separate Catalonia from Spain last October.