Polisario Front Leader Hires International Law Expert for Spanish Court Appearance

Investigating judge Santiago Pedraz has asked Brahim Ghali to take a lawyer to defend him, reports ABC, which adds that the magistrate has also given instructions to the Logroño court so that all arrangements are made to allow the Polisario Front leader to respond to his summons by videoconference in case his travel to Madrid is not possible.

According to judicial sources, Brahim Ghali has chosen lawyer Manuel Ollé, an expert in international criminal law and former president of the Spanish Association for Human Rights. Brahim Ghali, who was admitted in April to a hospital in Logroño, plans to appear in court on June 1, according to sources close to the leader. He is being prosecuted for crimes of torture, genocide and human rights violations accused by a Sahrawi of Spanish origin, a victim of torture in the Tindouf camps, and the Sahrawi Association for the Defense of Human Rights.

The reception of the Polisario leader on Spanish territory has provoked a serious diplomatic crisis between Spain and Morocco, which has led the authorities of the kingdom to cut off all contact with the Spaniards.