Christian Brückner, suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, is not being released early in the rape case for which he is being held. The European Court of Justice has determined this in a procedure on Thursday.
The issue revolves around Brückner’s surrender from Italy to Germany in 2018.
The latter country wanted to imprison the man again after he was caught trafficking in narcotics after a previous conviction for child abuse. By the time the arrest warrant had been issued, Brückner had already gone to Italy.
The country has handed Brückner over to Germany, where he was subsequently convicted of violently raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal in 2005. However, the rape case was not mentioned on the warrant and Portugal had not been asked for permission, raising the question of whether the surrender was lawful.
The Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that this was the case. If the surrender had been ruled to be unlawful, the case would have been referred back to the German court. Brückner might have been released for the time being.
The man is officially suspected of involvement in the disappearance of the British Madeleine (Maddie) McCann. The child disappeared from the apartment in the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz in 2007. Her parents were having dinner with friends just down the road.
The German police think that the girl will not be found alive again.
– .
