The Fórum Canario Saharaui is satisfied with the maintenance of the imputation of González Laya in the Ghali case

The Fórum Canario Saharaui has issued a statement in which it expresses its satisfaction at the maintenance of the imputation of Arancha González Laya, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the judicial case concerning the controversial entry of Brahim Ghali, leader of the Polisario Front, into Spanish territory to be treated for a respiratory ailment in a hospital in Logroño.

The Forum indicates that if Gonzalez Laya is still charged, it is for allegedly following instructions from the President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez.

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

We express our satisfaction at the fact that Arancha González Laya's indictment has been maintained, rejecting the request of the State Attorney's Office to close the proceedings against the former minister. A State Attorney's Office which, unfortunately, continues to act as the legal defence for the national executive. It is unquestionable that the ex-minister has prevented the magistrate of the Court of Instruction No. 7 of Zaragoza, Rafael Lasala, from continuing to advance in the investigation, refusing to confess who gave her the order, by not testifying under the protection of the Law of Official Secrets of 1968. It is therefore clear that the former minister received directives from above and has chosen to continue to keep them secret.

The impunity with which González Laya decided to 'save' her ex-boss, Pedro Sánchez, in the Ghali case is therefore evident and we denounce it here. If Laya continues to be charged, it is undoubtedly for allegedly following the orders of the President of the Government in the plan orchestrated at various levels to welcome the Polisario leader to Spain. Not in vain, the judge recalls in his order that the operation involved "qualified authorities and officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Defence", thus pointing out the judge's personal conviction against the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, explaining in his order that "their (the ministries') actions were immediate and coordinated, what the law tells us is that the Prime Minister directed this joint action". And he concludes that "the final decision corresponded to the president of the government". Therefore, we understand that, if the 'Ghali Case' is also the 'Laya Case', we would be legitimised and in a position to call it also, by extension, a fully-fledged 'Pedro Sánchez Case'.

From the Fórum Canario saharaui we applaud these statements and hope that they do not fall on deaf ears, given the seriousness of their scope, and above all we hope that the political instability that is currently being experienced globally due to the crisis in Ukraine, does not dissuade or pressure the magistrate from further investigations or closure of the proceedings, in the context of the more than possible implications of those indicated by the judge, especially due to the rapprochement of the Executive of Pedro Sánchez with Algeria in relation to the energy or gas issue.

On the other hand, we show our disappointment and disapproval for the decision to lift the indictment of the former director of González Laya's Cabinet, Camilo Villarino, especially when it is the judge himself who relates in his order, regarding the more than possible prevarication, that Villarino himself intervened directly in the entry without any control of Brahim Ghali posing as Mohamed Benbatouche, by referring in the text that "the investigated [Camilo Villarino] thought that, as the plane came from a country outside the Schengen zone, it would be better not to pass passport control as there could be a warning about him, proposing to the then minister that instructions be given in this sense, and she expressed her total agreement".

We also continue to recall and reiterate the role of the Riojan authorities in this murky case. We understand that the purging of responsibilities as far as these local authorities are concerned should not remain a mere anecdote. In this sense, we believe that the possible declaration of the president herself, Concha Andreu, and the government delegate in that community, María Marrodán, should have been taken into consideration, to find out if they had any involvement in the deliberate concealment of Ghali himself, in complicity with the aforementioned parties involved, in an unparalleled networked collaboration at local and national level. It should not be forgotten that both belong to the same party as the central executive, which ultimately authorised the clandestine entry of the aforementioned Ghali into Spain and his admission to the San Pedro Hospital in Logroño.

On another matter, in direct reference to Brahim Ghali, we express our rejection of his recent public support and complicity with former minister Laya in recent interviews, in an exercise of shamelessness, stating among other things that "I did not believe that to save a human life one could go to such extremes" or "I regret that the minister has paid for a humanitarian gesture, and they should not have given in to Morocco to that extent either, it is too much".

We understand that, if the minister has "paid", as Ghali alias "Benbatouche" says, it is because of a clear indication of a crime, as well as the ineptitude and recklessness of someone whose actions have been an accomplice in provoking an unprecedented diplomatic crisis with Morocco, by mediating in favour of a person with a very dark past, who has never paid in Spain for his terrorist acts. These include the murders of Spanish citizens between the 1970s and 1980s, most of them fishermen from the Canary Islands and other regions, for the simple fact of continuing to fish in waters that the Polisario Front considered to be theirs. These orders were decreed at the time by the then Polisario Minister of Defence, Brahim Ghali. We therefore hope that the case of ASADEDH (Sahrawi Association for the Defence of Human Rights), which has just been filed in the Audiencia Nacional, will be further pursued in the Supreme Court, as the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity that it describes in detail perpetrated by Brahim Ghali and 27 high-ranking Polisario officials.

In these recent interviews with Ghali by various media, the same brazenness to which we referred earlier is palpably demonstrated by the fact that he has taken no less than nearly a year to publicly thank the medical attention and personal treatment received in Logroño by doctors, health workers, etc. Especially after the tensions at all levels that his presence in Logroño provoked, including in the day-to-day life of these doctors and the pressure they received from above to maintain all kinds of secrecy and discretion for the greater protection of Ghali. An unnecessary and undeserved setback for professionals who were already overworked enough with the pandemic itself and its effects.

Finally, we would also like to denounce the presence of Brahim Ghali at the recent summit between the European Union and the African Union held in Brussels, especially considering that there were (and still are) open cases against him. A full-fledged provocation, magnified by the fact that he met with Pedro Sánchez at the summit. A summit at which all European leaders, in addition to criticising his presence, denied any rapprochement with Ghali, with the exception of the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. In view of this gesture, there are therefore no more words and the facts are denounced by this Fórum Canario Saharaui through this communiqué.