Portugal refuses extradition of mother of abandoned children, partner may be handed over later
Portuguese judicial authorities refused to extradite to France a 41-year-old woman suspected of abandoning her two children. The partner, a 55-year-old Frenchman, may be extradited later.
Portugal refuses extradition of mother of abandoned children, partner may be handed over later
Portuguese authorities refused to extradite to France a 41-year-old woman suspected of abandoning her two children aged 4 and 5, announced on Tuesday, 23 June, by the regional Public Prosecutor's office in Évora. The couple had been detained at the end of May near Fátima, two days after the discovery of the two boys crying by the side of a road.
The two brothers were found on 19 May by a motorist, sitting by the side of the national road linking Alcácer do Sal to Comporta, about one hundred kilometres south of Lisbon. French authorities had been searching for the mother and the children since 11 May, the date when their disappearance was reported in Colmar, in eastern France.
Despite this partial refusal to execute the European arrest warrant issued by the French authorities, the court of appeal in Évora accepted the principle of handing over the woman at a later date, so that she may be prosecuted in France for acts that were not committed on Portuguese territory.
The previous week, Portuguese authorities had already accepted to execute the arrest warrant issued against the Frenchwoman's partner, but only once the justice system no longer has an interest in his detention. This 55-year-old Frenchman is also accused of serious aggravated bodily harm against one of the two boys.
The couple was placed in pre-trial detention and accused of acts of endangerment or abandonment.
Source: franceinfo
Source: France Info