Puigdemont extradition decision delayed

Carles Puigdemont will have to wait longer to find out his fate in Germany. The German court in charge of his extradition case has informed Eurojust, the EU's judicial cooperation unit, that it will not meet the regular 90-day deadline to rule on the Catalan leader’s situation. Puigdemont's lawyers called the announcement "obvious," as the deadline passed on June 24.

Spanish court wants to "prolong" decision

Puigdemont’s lawyers blame the Spanish judiciary for the delay on a final decision, and sources in his legal team told the Catalan News Agency (ACN) that the Spanish Supreme Court has continued to send more documents –in Spanish– to the Schleswig-Holstein high court even after the deadline. "On Tuesday we handed in our appeal [against the German prosecution's extradition request], but the day before some paperwork from the Supreme Court had arrived, therefore we asked for more time to appeal further once the new documents are taken into account," said Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, one of Puigdemont's lawyers. Another, Gonzalo Boye, accused Spain's Supreme Court of wanting to "prolong" this situation.

There is now no date for the decision on the horizon. However, the Catalan leader's defense said earlier this week that they expect it by mid-July. Whether or not the judges in Schleswig-Holstein accept taking into account the new information sent by Madrid might drag out the decision further in the future.

Carles Puigdemont, who was the Catalan president during the referendum and the declaration of independence last October, has been in Germany since being arrested in March 25. He had previously spent around five months in Belgium, where he intends to go back if he is not extradited.