Kidnapping of Santiago: detained in the Netherlands, the mother of the infant should be handed over to France next week

The mother of Santiago, a very premature baby kidnapped by his parents on October 21 in a maternity ward in Seine-Saint-Denis and found in a hotel in Amsterdam four days later, should be handed over to France “next week”, indicated Friday the Amsterdam court. His request for an accelerated procedure “has been accepted,” said a court spokesperson, who specifies that the exact date of his extradition is not yet known.

The infant's two parents are still being held in pre-trial detention in the Netherlands since their arrest. France requested a surrender of the two suspects.

Concerning the father of the child, he “opted for the long procedure and the request for surrender will be processed during a public hearing of the International Legal Assistance Chamber at a later date” explained the court spokesperson . The date of this hearing is not yet known.

Short proceedings are typically assessed within 10 days by the council chambers of the Amsterdam court, with the hearing taking place in camera. “In the long procedure, the case will be examined within 60 to 90 days by the International Judicial Assistance Chamber (IRK) of the Amsterdam court,” said the spokesperson.

Santiago was kidnapped on October 21 from the neonatology department of a hospital in Aulnay-sous-Bois, near Paris. Born eight weeks early, the newborn, then only 17 days old, required constant care in an incubator.

After four days of a race against time across three countries, Dutch police arrested the two parents with their child in a hotel room in Amsterdam. The latter has since been hospitalized in the Netherlands in a neonatology department to undergo a battery of examinations.

“We are not making any announcement on how the Dutch police found the parents,” the Amsterdam court said, adding that it will not make any further comments regarding the case.

“The baby, who is in good health, was transferred to a reception facility,” he said in a press release. The lawyers of Santiago's parents, for their part, refuted the characterization of kidnapping. “It is not justified either legally or factually,” said Maître Stéphane Gas. It’s a mountain that’s going to give birth to a mouse.”

This extraordinary case offers a successful example of mutual legal assistance within the European Union, through the European Arrest Warrant (EAW). The judicial and police authorities of three countries: France, Belgium and the Netherlands acted together to find little Santiago and his parents.