Spanish Court Closes Case on Polisario Leader’s Controversial Entry, Easing Diplomatic Tensions

Judicial epilogue for the head of the separatists. After a year of investigation, the Zaragoza court has closed the Brahim Ghali case. Justifying its decision, it explained that the illegal entry of the Polisario militia chief into Spain was a "political or governmental act" linked to the "external security" of the Iberian peninsula. This decision had previously been made by the prosecutor who had asked Judge Rafael Lasala to close the investigation into former Foreign Minister Arancha González Laya and her former chief of staff Camilo Villarino in the Ghali case.

Even though it was admitted that it was the head of government, Pedro Sánchez "who ordered the adoption of the appropriate measures so that Ghali could enter" Spain, this does not mean that Arancha Laya and her chief of staff Villarino "knew that the National Court was interested in his location to be heard as part of an investigation" and they decided to hide it from the court, the jurisdiction argued.

There is "no indication" of the hypothesis that Laya knew that the head of the separatists was wanted in Spain for several criminal cases — including crimes against humanity — since 2008, the judges say, adding that no evidence has been found "against the crimes of documentary lying and concealment" to indict the former Spanish Foreign Minister.