A week after being arrested in the Netherlands with their newborn, Santiago’s parents will find out this Friday whether they will be extradited to France. Cristina N., 25, and Kevin D., 23, are suspected of having kidnapped their newborn on the evening of October 21 while he was at the Robert-Ballanger hospital in Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Very prematurely born eight weeks early, the infant was 17 days old when he left the neonatology department. A few hours after the parents fled, leaving the maternity ward with the child in a shopping bag, the French authorities issued a kidnapping alert. It was lifted on Tuesday evening when the infant’s parents were suspected of having gone to Belgium.
Found in Amsterdam
At that time, the newborn’s health caused concern because his life expectancy was estimated at around twelve hours in the absence of constant medical monitoring. The Belgian federal police then took over and broadcast an appeal to the population. Then the couple’s car was found Wednesday morning in the Belgian city of Charleroi, according to local police.
Last Friday evening, it was in the Netherlands that the parents were found by the Dutch authorities. Four days after the kidnapping, the two adults were arrested in a hotel in Amsterdam, in the presence of the newborn who was in a state of health described as “reassuring”.
Parents have given their consent
Since then, Santiago’s parents have been in pre-trial detention in the Netherlands “on the basis of European arrest warrants issued and disseminated as part of the ongoing judicial investigation”, specified Eric Mathais, public prosecutor of Bobigny. . “Santiago is hospitalized. His repatriation to France, as part of his placement under educational assistance, will be organized when it is medically possible,” he also indicated.
On Monday, the Amsterdam District Court informed the couple of the European arrest warrants, issued by France, which targeted them. During this hearing, they were asked if they accepted their extradition to France. Both parents gave their consent, paving the way for a rapid procedure. The extradition decision before a Dutch court will be pronounced this Friday.
A return to France next week?
The Netherlands is one of the countries with which France cooperates the most in matters of extradition, the procedure should therefore take place with a certain fluidity. Their return to France could take place next week, “probably from Monday”, according to their Dutch advice, or “from Wednesday”, estimates Mr Stéphane Gas, the father’s lawyer. It is not known whether the newborn, still hospitalized in Amsterdam, will also be transferred to France.
In France, the investigation will be handled by two investigating judges from Bobigny, who will have to elucidate the motivations of the parents in this kidnapping.
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