The main German suspect in the disappearance of the British toddler Madeleine McCann, the 43-year-old Christian Brückner, has not been released for the time being.
He had gone to the European Court of Justice because his extradition to Germany would not have gone according to the rules but was proven wrong today.
Brückner was extradited by Italy to Germany in 2018 because he still had to serve a sentence in his home country for drug trafficking.
Once there, he was also prosecuted and convicted of the rape of an elderly American in Portugal in 2005, not far from where Maddie McCann disappeared.
Italy gave explicit permission for this because in principle extradited suspects may not be prosecuted for other offences.
Not Italy, but Portugal should have given that permission, Brückner thought. That country had extradited him to Germany a year earlier for child abuse. But the court does not agree.
It indicates that, after serving that sentence, Brückner had voluntarily left Germany and travelled to Italy. As a result, he can no longer claim protection against prosecution for other offences.