Murder suspect Jonny Smyth has “agreed to extradition” and should be returned to Spain from Portugal in around a fortnight, officials say.
The 26-year-old from Belfast appeared in court on Thursday morning in the northern Portuguese city of Guimaraes following his arrest on Tuesday at an Airbnb a half-drive north in Braga.
The extradition hearing took place behind-closed doors as is normal at such proceedings in both Portugal and Spain, where Smyth was put on a wanted list in January after disappearing following the discovery of missing dad-of-two John George’s body in an orchard in Rojales near the Costa Blanca resort of Torrevieja.
After the hearing, well-placed sources close to the case said: “Smyth did not oppose his extradition so it should be very quick, around two weeks. The judge he went before ordered his remand in preventive detention in the meantime.”
Portuguese police confirmed Smyth’s arrest yesterday. Police insiders later revealed he had been held on an international arrest warrant issued by a Spanish court at an unnamed Airbnb in Braga, a city in the far north of Portugal.
Once Smyth is returned to Spain he will be summoned before the investigating judge probing John George’s murder so his continued preventive detention in Spain ahead of a probable trial can be ratified. Any formal charges would be laid later on once the judge finishes his criminal probe.
Suspects can be held in preventive custody in Spain without trial for up to four years, although the normal time limit is two and extensions are a rarity. It is not unheard of for murder suspects to be released on bail beforehand with strict conditions.
Gym owner Smyth was made a wanted man on January 21, with court officials on the Costa Blanca confirming the same day national and international arrest warrants had been issued for the man suspected of murdering John George.
Mr George, 37, vanished on December 14 last year and relatives reported him missing when he failed to catch a scheduled flight home four days later after what was meant to be a short holiday. His body was discovered on January 7, hidden under overgrown lemon trees around five miles from the town of Rojales.
Today a spokesman for the Civil Guard in Alicante, which has been tight-lipped about its investigation and is refusing requests for interviews, said: “In the framework of Operation Resistente, carried out by the Territorial Judicial Police Team of Pilar de la Horadada for a crime of intentional homicide of an Irish citizen in the municipality of Rojales, we have received information through SIRENE of the arrest on March 25th of a 27-year-old man in the Portuguese city of Braga.
“The arrest was made by the Portuguese police in compliance with a European Arrest Warrant issued by Court of Instruction Number Two in Torrevieja."
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