Germany: Puigdemont must remain in Germany as extradition request processed

"Without permission of the public prosecutor's office, he is not allowed to leave Germany," a spokesperson of the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Regional Court said in Schleswig on Friday, after former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was released from Neumunster prison on €75,000 ($92,000) bail.
"The Senate has reached the conclusion that the demand for the extradition cannot be supported, according to German law," the spokesperson Frauke Holmer added, ruling against Puigdemont's extradition to Spain where he is wanted for sedition, rebellion and the misuse of public funds.
While the northern German court examines the extradition request, Puigdemont has to register at a police station once a week. "And he has to inform the public prosecutor's office every time he changes his residential address," she added.
The court admits that there is still a flight risk, but ruling out the offense of rebellion and downgrading the charge to embezzlement largely reduces the risk.
Puigdemont is expected to hold a press conference in Berlin on Saturday.
Puigdemont was arrested by the German police en route to Belgium where he had been living in self-imposed exile.