Spanish Businessman with Health Issues Seeks Release from Moroccan Prison Amid COVID-19 Concerns

The reasons given by Ernesto Rey’s family for demanding his release include the suspension of the proceedings against him due to the coronavirus crisis and his state of health due to asthma and diabetes. The family is asking Morocco to release a prisoner to prevent him from being infected with covid-19.

The family adds that at the end of March 2020, the appeal process in Ernesto Rey’s case had come to an end, and since the coronavirus crisis has led to the abandonment of the resolution, he should no longer be kept in prison.

Ernesto has been hospitalized several times in a Moroccan hospital due to the poor conditions of detention and the fragility of his health, his father-in-law explained to Lavanguardia. The family fears a covid-19 contamination, as Ernesto Rey is insulin-dependent and asthmatic. It is incomprehensible that Ernesto Rey is not among the more than 5,000 prisoners pardoned by King Mohammed VI as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, laments the family.

In 2016, a load of hashish inside one of his trucks was intercepted by the Moroccan police. Carlos Gallego, Ernesto Rey’s father-in-law, had explained that it was an exchange of fish for drugs between the driver and a group of drug traffickers. For these acts, Ernesto was arrested on March 23, 2017, as soon as he entered Morocco.