The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Court sides against Madeleine suspect in rape appeal bid
A European court has sided against the suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance in his bid to overturn a rape conviction.
German investigators believe Christian Brueckner, 43, killed Madeleine, then three, after abducting her in Praia da Luz in May 2007.
He is serving a prison sentence in Germany for drug trafficking and is appealing against a conviction for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old woman in the same Portuguese resort, for which he was sentenced to seven years in jail.
The case, at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg, hinges on a legal point relating to his extradition to Germany from Portugal and later Italy.
According to court documents, Brueckner was extradited from Portugal for sexually abusing a minor in June 2017, then travelled to the Netherlands and Italy while still on probation after his release.
He was extradited to Germany from Italy in October 2018 for drug trafficking before being tried and convicted of rape and extortion in December last year.
Brueckner’s legal challenge centres on whether the German authorities needed Portugal’s consent to bring rape proceedings because of the 2017 extradition.
Italy had agreed Brueckner could be tried for rape and extortion in Germany.
A preliminary opinion by Advocate General Michal Bobek, which is not binding, said the consent of only the Italian authorities was needed for the Germans to carry out their proceedings legally.
German prosecutor Julia Meyer said: “The advocate general shares our opinion. We wait for the decision of the court the next few weeks.”