European Parliament members rebuke Spain for letting in Polisario leader facing rape charges
Members of the European parliament have denounced the Spanish decision to let in Polisario leader Ibrahim Ghali who faces charges of for war crimes, human rights abuses and rape.
“‘I am wondering how is it possible that the authorities of #Spain allow the illegal entry with a false identity of a person Brahim Ghali accused of having committed acts of rape, especially against women? This is against our value and principle,” Czech MEP Tomas Zdechovsky said in a twit.
Spain is facing fierce criticism for hosting the Polisario leader who entered the Spanish territory using an Algerian passport with a false identity to shun arrest.
Ghali’s victims are putting pressure on the Spanish justice to apply the law on an equal footing and uphold its independence by bringing Ghali before justice.
Both ACAVITE which represents Canary Island workers and fishermen assassinated by the Polisario, and Sahraoui rights group ASADEDH are urging the judiciary to enforce the law and arrest Ghali.
Individuals such as Sahraoui woman Khadijatou Mahdmoud who accuses Ghali of rape and Spanish intellectual Pedro Ignacio Altamiran have also urged Spanish justice to bring the Polisario leader before justice.
Spain’s admission of Ghali in connivance with the Algerian regime also risks undermining relations with Morocco which said it has not received a persuading response from Spain regarding the secretive character of Ghali’s hospitalization in Spain under a false identity.
Morocco’s foreign minister recently made it clear that Spain has a choice between Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario front, adding that Morocco has made sure never to take similar moves regarding separatist groups within Spain.
If Spain lets Ghali go, this will leave a lasting blow to the independence of its judiciary and set a worrying precedent in the country as well as sap relations with Morocco.
The hosting by Spain of a criminal under a fake identity and with falsified papers in coordination with the Algerian state has generated strong reactions of reprobation and condemnation around the world.
The Iberian country is accused of helping a war criminal to escape justice and of supporting his actions.
Meanwhile, several victims of the atrocities perpetrated by Brahim Ghali expressed on Saturday their anger at the Spanish government’s position to allow access to its territory of a man wanted by justice for crimes of genocide and terrorism.
This criminal must answer for his actions before the courts for the serious charges against him, said the victims who gathered in front of the San Pedro hospital in Logroño, where this notorious criminal was admitted.
Holding banners denouncing the illegal entry of the so-called Brahim Ghali in Spain under a fake identity and demanding the reactivation of the judicial proceedings against this mercenary, the demonstrators, who came from many neighboring cities, urged the Spanish government to execute the arrest warrant issued by Judge Jose de la Mata of the National Court, the highest Spanish criminal court.
In a statement read on this occasion, the victims of the criminal acts of the polisario have demanded the immediate arrest of the so-called Brahim Ghali and the extradition of his accomplices as soon as possible, and called on the Spanish government of Pedro Sanchez to assume its responsibility and do justice to the Spanish victims of the Polisario instead of hosting a criminal in violation of national and international law.
The local press has widely reported this demonstration of protest, including the newspaper “La Rioja” and the general information portal “tribunalibre.info”.
