Former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont remanded in custody

Former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont has been remanded in custody in northern Germany pending a decision on extradition proceedings. 

The German authorities have 60 days to reach a decision on the extradition request made by Spain, which Puigdemont opposed during Monday’s hearing.

Puigdemont was detained in Germany under the European arrest warrant was activated last week. German police detained him, after having lived in exile since Catalonia’s parliament declared independence last October.

Puigdemont is wanted in Spain for sedition and rebellion for organising an illegal referendum – charges which carry up to 25 years imprisonment.

The German district judge criticized the content of the Spanish arrest warrant, suggesting that the extradition is not a foregone conclusion.

While the warrant submitted by the Spanish government had met requirements for the former Catalan leader’s further detention, the Kiel district judge said, it was “without question that the content of the European arrest warrant offers some clues that the extradition [...] could be deemed impermissible”.

Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, has not commented on Puigdemont’s arrest and possible extradition, but his deputy, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, described it as good news, and said: “No one can evade justice forever.”

Meanwhile, Catalonia remains without a government and there is little prospect of one being formed. In an effort to appease Puigdemont’s supporters – tens of thousands of whom took to the streets of Barcelona and other Catalan cities on Sunday night – the three main secessionist groups have called for a plenary session of parliament on Wednesday to “guarantee the right of Puigdemont to be president”.

Elsa Artadi, the leader of the former president’s Together for Catalonia party, said: “We have to work to make Puigdemont a real,