Wolfgang Schomburg, the German lawyer of exiled Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, has asked the German government to clarify that this country does not grant extraditions on a political basis, according to leading German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Schomburg, an expert in international criminal law, has upped the ante and addressed the German authorities directly, recalling that the German justice minister, Katarina Barley, has the final say on the authorization of extradition procedures.
The lawyer recognized that no progress will be made on the question before Tuesday, after the Easter break ends in Germany. But he said his starting point was that the arrest warrant issued by Spain against Puigdemont is "imprecise and superficial" and should not be considered valid. "The accusation of violence against Puigdemont is untenable, and the accusation of corruption is rash".
He also announced the case will be appealed to Germany's Federal Constitutional Court if the High Court of Schleswig Holstein does not immediately set Puigdemont free.
German weekly Der Spiegel has also confirmed this news, quoting Sören Schomburg, son and legal partner of Puigdemont's lawyer, and commenting that they want "the federal government to reject the extradition request".