In independent proceedings, prosecutors are demanding a 15-year prison sentence for suspect Madeleine McCann

The 47-year-old German citizen, identified by local media as Christian Brückner, is facing the Braunschweig regional court in northern Germany for crimes he is said to have committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

The closing arguments in the trial, which opened in February, began on Wednesday.

Prosecutor Ute Lindemann advocated convicting the defendant of two counts of rape and two counts of sexual abuse and holding him in preventive detention after serving a 15-year prison sentence, the dpa reported.

The prosecutor said he should be acquitted on the third count of rape.

The defense is expected to make its arguments on Monday and a verdict could follow on Tuesday.

The suspect has not been charged in the McCann case, in which he is being investigated on suspicion of murder.

He spent many years in Portugal, including in the resort of Praia da Luz, around the time Madeleine disappeared there in May 2007. He denied any involvement in her disappearance.

The suspect is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005.

Brückner’s lawyer said in February that his client would not respond to the charges, but that he expected an acquittal. In the German legal system there are no formal causes of action and there is no obligation for defendants to respond.

In July, the court lifted an arrest warrant in the cases at issue in the current proceedings on the grounds that there was no “strong suspicion” against the defendant. However, due to the sentence he is currently serving, he remains in prison.