Rabat – The Spanish judiciary has reopened the investigation for “genocide” against the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, after “procedural irregularities” were detected in the previous attempt to bring him to justice.
The national Spanish court made the announcement on Wednesday, September 29, although the investigation was concluded in late July.
“The National Court are revoking the dismissal of the case ordered by Judge Santiago Pedraz on July 29 against Polisario leader Brahim Ghali following a complaint filed against him by the Sahrawi Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADEDH) for crimes of genocide,” said the justiciary in a statement, citing several procedural errors.
The ASADEDH denounced 28 members of the Polisario Front and senior Algerian government officials for their alleged crimes.
Several plaintiffs filed complaints against him, and continue to call for his arrest and subsequent trial.
Back in July of this year, during a crucial diplomatic crisis between Spain and Morocco, Judge Santiago Pedraz closed the case in which Ghali was accused of committing genocide against Moroccans between 1975 and 1990.
The complaint was filed back in 2008, Judge Santiago Pedraz closed the investigation, arguing that “the commission for the crime of genocide was not yet established, and that witness testimonies contradicted statements contained in the complaint.”
On June 1, Brahim Ghali was questioned by the Spanish judiciary from a hospital where he was being treated, and was subsequently able to return to Algeria the next day.
Brahim Ghali is the subject of another pending complaint, filed by Fadel Breika, a naturalized Spanish Polisario Front dissident.
