German court to rule on custody for ex-Catalan leader

By Ayhan Simsek

BERLIN (AA) - A German court will rule on Monday afternoon whether former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont will be held in custody, after he was arrested on an international arrest warrant.

The local court in northern town of Neumunster will determine the identity of Puigdemont and decide whether he will remain in custody, German news agency DPA reported.

A formal decision on Spain’s extradition request, which was under the jurisdiction of Higher Regional Court in Schleswig, was not expected before next week.

Puigdemont was detained on Sunday morning by German police acting on a European arrest warrant.

He was travelling from Denmark to Belgium, where he has been living in self-imposed exile since October last year.

A Spanish court reactivated on Friday a European arrest warrant against Puigdemont on charges of sedition and rebellion.

He led a parliamentary session in October last year that saw separatist lawmakers vote for the region of Catalonia to declare independence from Spain. He and 12 other separatist leaders were officially charged with rebellion.