Rabat – Moroccan authorities prevented Luis Mangrane, a Spanish jurist, from entering Laayoune on January 14.
Spanish news outlets reported that Mangrane aimed to attend the January 16 trial of Brahim Dehani as an international human rights observer.
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The news outlets claimed that Dehani was arrested on December 4 while covering a demonstration in the region.
Earlier this month, Moroccan law enforcement in Laayoune also expelled two Spanish pro-Polisario activists who claimed they were there for New Year’s Eve.
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Patricia Ibanez and Irati Tobar were found at the house of Hassana Aalia, who is living in exile in Spain. Aalia received a life sentence in absentia for his involvement in the Gdeim Izik incident, when Sahrawis at a camp near Laayoune clashed with Moroccan police resulting in the death of at least 11 Moroccan officers and the injury of 70 others in 2010.
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Authorities expelled the Spanish activists to Agadir, explaining that they could visit Laayoune but “not staying with a family.”
“We tried to talk to them and explain, but there was no way,” Ibanez said.
