Madeleine suspect loses bid for prison release
THE prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has lost an appeal to overturn a conviction for rape.
German investigators believe Christian Brueckner, 43, killed Madeleine, then three, after she vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
Brueckner is currently serving a prison sentence in Germany for drug trafficking. He is appealing against a conviction for the 2005 rape of a 72- year- old US woman in the same Portuguese resort, for which he was sentenced to seven years in jail.
A German court had sent the case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to decide on a point of law relating to his extradition to Germany from Portugal and later Italy. But ECJ judges ruled yesterday that German authorities can carry out their proceedings legally.
The case will now be returned to the German court to finally decide on Brueckner’s appeal, which he is likely to lose in light of the ruling.
He is serving his drug trafficking sentence until early next year and will be in custody until 2027 if he loses the rape conviction appeal.
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, who is leading the Madeleine investigation, said: “We are pleased that the European Court of Justice shared our legal view.
“With the decision, it is now clear that Christian B will remain in custody beyond January 2021, regardless of any early release from the prison sentence he is currently serving.”