MADRID (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th July, 2021) The Spanish National Court closed its genocide case against Secretary General of the Polisario Front (Popular Front for the Liberation of Western Sahara) Brahim Ghali, allegedly involved in crimes against Moroccan citizens, the court said on Thursday.
"The judge of the National Court Santiago Pedraz agreed to close the case filed by the Saharawi Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADEH) against the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali, for crimes of genocide in connection with acts allegedly committed against Moroccan citizens between 1975 and 1990," the press service of the court said.
The case was closed due to the fact that the committing of crimes was not proved, since testimony contradicted the facts indicated in the claim, the court explained. The judge also stated that the article on genocide appeared in the Criminal Code in 1995, which is after the events in question.
The lawsuit was filed "in 2008 against 13 Moroccan military on charges of genocide, murder, bodily harm, illegal detention, terrorism, torture, and disappearance."
The court's verdict concerns only Ghali.
Ghali was undergoing treatment in the Spanish city of Logrono between April and June 2021, which prompted outrage from Rabat. In mid-May, the Moroccan authorities allowed around 10,000 illegal immigrants to freely enter the Morocco-Spanish border in the enclave of Ceuta in what was widely interpreted as an attempt to put pressure on Spain over Ghali.
On June 1, Ghali gave a video testimony to the Spanish National Court in connection with the lawsuits filed against him on crimes against humanity, torture, and genocide. Judge Santiago Pedraz did not restrict Ghali's right to move and demanded only that he provide the Spanish authorities with his address and a contact phone number, meaning he was free to leave Spain.
