German court keeps ex-Catalan leader in custody

Puigdemont will "remain in detention for the time being, until a decision is made concerning the extradition procedure," the regional court in Kiel, northern Germany, announced a day after Puigdemont was arrested.

The former Catalan leader's detention in Germany, which sparked angry protests back in Catalonia, comes five months after he went on the run as Spanish prosecutors sought to charge him with sedition and rebellion in the wake of a vote by the Catalan parliament to declare independence.

The court in northern Germany turned down a request from Puigdemont's legal team for him to be released pending the extradition decision by German authorities.

He was arrested on Sunday after he crossed the border into Germany from Denmark, under a European warrant issued by Spain.

According to Puigdemont's lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas, he was on his way back to Belgium, where he fled after Spanish authorities moved to impose direct rule over Catalonia.

His detention marks the latest chapter in a secession saga that has bitterly divided Catalans and triggered Spain's worst political crisis in decades.

A decision on extradition must normally be made within 60 days under German law.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office for Schleswig-Holstein state said it would "probably not come this week" ahead of the four-day Easter holiday.