El Fórum Canario Saharaui denuncia la connivencia entre diversos cargos para eludir responsabilidades en el caso de Brahim Ghali

The Fórum Canario Saharaui denounces the scheme of aid and "compadreo" of various officials at interministerial and interdepartmental level to evade responsibility and free themselves from blame in relation to the investigation concerning the entry last year of Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front, into Spain to be treated for respiratory complications in a hospital in Logroño. 

The responsibility of political and police officials is being investigated for the obscurantism surrounding the way in which the Polisario leader entered Spanish territory, a fact that unleashed a major diplomatic crisis with Morocco, which is still being tried to be redressed. 

The following is the communiqué of the Fórum Canario Saharaui:

In line with previous communiqués regarding the stay of Brahim Ghali in Logroño and its consequences, this Fórum Canario Saharaui states the following:

That after the recent declarations on Monday 7 February of various police commanders before the head of the Court of Instruction No. 7 of Zaragoza, Rafael Lasala, who is investigating the case for the irregular entry into Spain and stay in Logroño of Brahim Ghali, we observe once again with astonishment, how the chumminess of various positions at inter-ministerial and interdepartmental level continues, with the desire to exonerate both themselves and their various superiors in the form of political positions. In what has undoubtedly become a political farce at the regional, national and interdisciplinary level between members of different administrations, where 'nobody knows anything' or 'cannot say anything' or other ways of 'wriggling out of it'. This is particularly blatant in the case of ex-minister Laya, who invoked nothing less than the Official Secrets Act of 1968, a conduct that was reproached by Judge Lasala.

In previous declarations before the judge, the circumstances described above have already occurred with members of the Foreign Ministry, the Government of La Rioja, as well as different health authorities of the latter, and even the Ministry of Defence. Now it is the turn of the Interior and the police authorities who may have had some connection with Ghali's entry into Spain. From the previous statements made by the General Commissioner of Information of the National Police, Eugenio Pereiro Blanco, on 29 November, to those made on Monday by the Deputy Director of Operations (DAO) of the National Police, José Ángel González Jiménez, from La Rioja.

The aforementioned DAO specified last Monday before the judge that he kept this information (Ghali's entry into Spain and his arrival in Logroño) to himself and that he did not pass it on to the Minister of the Interior. In this way, he avoids this criminal procedure for alleged false documentation affecting Grande-Marlaska, despite the fact that Pereiro himself explained in his statement as a witness last November that the police did know of his arrival and that he even set up a surveillance and security device for Ghali's transfer by medical ambulance to the hospital in Logroño. It thus seems clearly impossible that this information did not reach his own headquarters within the Interior, especially taking into account the international dimension of the person in question, and the controversy that his arrival could cause, as in the end it did.

We also find it outrageous that, also on Monday, when the chief inspector of Information who had to identify Ghali in the hospital was questioned, and asked why he did not investigate Ghali for forgery (given that he had registered at the San Pedro Hospital in Logroño with a different affiliation to his own), this inspector answered with such crude evasions as "he went to the hospital to identify Ghali, and not to investigate a possible forgery of documents". Thus, it is difficult to digest the fact that Ghali has used up to nine false identities over the years. From this dereliction of duty, we understand that a possible offence of omission to prosecute criminal conduct could be derived.

On the other hand, we denounce the actions of the State Attorney's Office from the beginning of this case, which practically acts as a legal defence for the national Executive, through the State Attorney María del Mar González Bella, torpedoing the judge's investigation and his enquiries, using the aforementioned and current Francoist Official Secrets Law to deny the magistrate relevant information about what happened and even preventing journalists from freely reporting on the details of the investigation, since it makes the Government and those who participated in this clandestine operation uncomfortable.

That is why we applaud the magistrate's attitude in the face of so many difficulties and obstacles, especially considering that these come from the Administration itself. The judge's work in such complicated circumstances is to be commended, trying to tie up all the ends of the investigation and to bring to light the keys that shed light on a case perpetrated with absolute opacity, especially if it were to be taken to higher courts if it were to involve members of parliament, something of which we have no doubt in view of the existing evidence.

Last but not least, we would like to recall the role of the Rioja authorities in the case. While the recent dismissal - regardless of the reasons given - of the Minister of Health of La Rioja, Sara Alba, seems logical to us, we understand that the purging of responsibilities as far as the local authorities are concerned should not stop there. Therefore, as we did previously, we encourage Judge Lasala, along the same lines as requested by the private prosecution, to call the president herself, Concha Andreu, and the government delegate in that community, María Marrodán, to testify, to find out if they had any involvement in the deliberate concealment of Ghali himself, trying to exempt him from the usual identification procedures, in order to circumvent the controls and evade the corresponding legal action arising from proceedings that at that time were being processed in the Audiencia Nacional (National High Court). It is not in vain that both belong to the same party as the central government, which ultimately authorised the possible clandestine entry of the aforementioned Ghali into Spain and his admission to the San Pedro Hospital.

In short, the Fórum Canario Saharaui welcomes these actions aimed at clarifying whether, from different governmental institutions, the border code was knowingly violated to bring Ghali into Spain, as well as the possible falsification of documents during his stay. This is a complete violation of the Schengen regulations. We hope that the corresponding judicial consequences will be drawn from this.