Provisional Release in Passive Extradition Proceedings

Our client was subject to passive extradition proceedings before the Central Court of Preliminary Investigation in Madrid, opened following a request made by the authorities of the Russian Federation in relation to an alleged drug-trafficking offence. In this type of proceedings, the Public Prosecutor's Office usually seeks the requested person's imprisonment while the extradition file is being processed, invoking the flight risk inherent in a case with an international dimension.

Our defence opposed the Public Prosecutor's Office's request for imprisonment, arguing that the severity of the sentence sought in the requesting country was not, by itself, sufficient to justify imprisonment, and that our client's ties to Spain and the personal circumstances involved sufficiently guaranteed his availability for the proceedings without the need to resort to a custodial precautionary measure. Opposition to the surrender was also raised before the judicial authority, an issue that remained pending resolution under the extradition procedure.

The Central Court of Preliminary Investigation ordered our client's provisional release without bail, subject to strict control measures: a prohibition on leaving national territory without judicial authorisation, surrender of his passport, periodic reporting requirements (apud acta), and an obligation to report any change of address, with a warning that failure to comply with any of these would result in his immediate imprisonment. This allowed our client to face the extradition proceedings at liberty, avoiding imprisonment throughout the processing of the file.