Mitchell Ong, the suspect in the fatal stabbing of fellow Singaporean Audrey Fang in Spain, faces being deported to be tried in Singapore, after the Spanish immigration authorities submitted the request to a court.
His lawyer, Ms Maria Jesus Ruiz de Castaneda, told The Straits Times she is opposing the request.
"Nothing has been decided. We have been asked to make presentations regarding the request for expulsion," she said, adding that there is no clarity at the moment on when the presiding judge will make a decision.
The deportation request was made by Spain's General Commissariat for Aliens and Borders, a national police agency that manages immigration and border control matters, reported the Spanish media.
If it is approved by the Spanish court, Ong, who is currently incarcerated in the Sangonera la Verde prison in Murcia, could be tried in Singapore, where he may face the death penalty if charged with murder.
Both the public prosecutor's office and private prosecution - represented by attorney Manuel Martinez on behalf of the Fang family in February - announced their intention to charge Ong with murder.
A murder charge in Spain carries a jail sentence ranging from 15 years to 25 years.
The Spanish immigration authority also requested that he be banned from returning to Spain for 10 years.
The private lawyer representing the Fang family is in agreement with the deportation request, reported Spanish daily La Opinion de Murcia.
Ong's lawyer, Ms Ruiz de Castaneda, told La Opinion that expulsion would be a violation of the rule of law and international treaties Spain has signed and ratified.
"He is involved in ongoing criminal proceedings in Spain, where he must be tried with due process," she said. "Expulsion would be contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, the principle of non-refoulement and Spain's commitments against the death penalty."
Ms Ruiz de Castaneda had previously called for the case to be dismissed, saying all necessary evidence had to be examined and that Ong "firmly and consistently" insisted he did not kill her.
Ong has been in custody since April 16, 2024, after Ms Fang was found dead near a parking area for lorries in the town of Abanilla on April 10 that year.
Two of Ms Fang's friends told a Spanish court on June 26, 2024, that Ms Fang and Ong had met on a social dating network.
Mr Martinez, representing Ms Fang's family in court, said she had told her friends she was planning to meet Ong in Spain during her holiday.
Ms Fang, a 39-year-old architect, left Singapore on April 4 to travel alone to Xabia in the Valencia region of Spain. She was supposed to return eight days later but became uncontactable on April 10.
She died from knife wounds and head trauma.
DNA from two men was found on her clothes, La Opinion reported in March, raising the possibility that more than one person was involved in her death.
Ong, who was previously a financial advisor with PFPFA, was also found to have been nominated as the sole beneficiary of Ms Fang's Central Provident Fund savings, with the accounts reportedly containing around $498,000.
