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Rabat – Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Arancha Gonzalez Laya has announced that Polisario leader Brahim Ghali must stand trial for the legal charges against him before leaving Spain.
Ghali entered Spain in April for medical care after he tested positive for COVID-19.
The Polisario leader entered Spain illegally under a fake identity with an Algerian bearing the name Mohamed Ben Batouch.
Spain and Algeria arranged his trip in secret, which Morocco’s intelligence unveiled after just a few days of his admission in a Spanish hospital.
Ghali’s admission to Spain angered Morocco, with the Moroccan government deploring Madrid’s “surprising” attitude and demanding a convincing justification for the move. In response, Spain claimed that its decision was a “humanitarian gesture.”
But Laya’s t comments today suggest Madrid is looking to calm the situation by satisfying some of Morocco’s demands in the Ghali case. Having repeatedly shirked Morocco’s concerns in the past few weeks, the Spanish FM is now insisting the Polisario chief will appear in court after his medical discharge.
“We promised to give this person a humanitarian response. This person was in a critical situation for his health problems, including a serious case of COVID-19” she told Spanish National Radio.
Laya acknowledged that Ghali faces a series of legal actions and must answer in court.
The Spanish FM emphasized that she wants the rift with Morocco to end “as soon as possible.”
NGOs, rights activists, and Ghali’s alleged victims are pressuring Spain to take imediate actions against the Polisari chief; Ghali faces genocide, torture, forced kidnapping, and illgal detention charges.
Earlier this week, Spanish news agency EFE reported a Spanish judge has decided to reopen Ghali’s case after several human rights organizations lashed out at Spain’s reluctance to immediately arrest him.
Morocco’s government has also condemned Spain’s inaction in the case, vigorously denouncing the Spanish government’s collusion with Algeria to arrange for Ghali’s hospitalisation.
“Good neighborliness and partnership are not slogans. We must embody them. Unfortunately, what Morocco has received since April 17 is not proof of good neighborliness. Today’s Morocco does not accept that kind of double language anymore,” Morocco’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Bourita said in an interview earlier this month.
Of the rift between Madrid and Rabat over the migratory crisis in Ceuta, Bourita stressed that Spain’s attitude is making “Europe pay the price for its clumsiness and must explain to Europe how an EU member country receives people with fake identities into European territory.”
