Spanish Judge Probes Police on Polisario Leader’s Secret Entry

Rafael Lasala has summoned Commissioner José Ángel González, the Deputy Director of Operations (DAO) of the police, to find out at what precise moment the Ministry of the Interior was informed of the arrival in Spain of the leader of the Polisario Front, Brahim Ghali. At this hearing scheduled for February 7, the judge has also summoned as a witness the number two of the General Information Police Station to find out the reason why an investigation was not opened after noting that Ghali was admitted to the Logroño hospital under a false identity (Mohamed Benbatouche).

To read: Spain Invokes State Secrets Law in Polisario Leader Entry Case

The judge also intends to ask the witness why no action was taken on the basis of this information, while Ghali remained in convalescence in this hospital until June 1, when he appeared by videoconference before Judge Pedraz, before returning to Algeria a few hours later from Pamplona airport. This testimony is important to determine "the degree of prior or subsequent knowledge that the authorities involved in Ghali’s arrival and stay in Spain had about the judicial procedures in progress against the latter.

To read: Polisario Leader Ghali Left Spain Without Passport, Police Report Reveals

Lasala deplores the "low probative contribution" of the other witnesses, with the exception of Camilo Villarino, the former chief of staff of Minister Arancha González Laya, who either through "ignorance" or "obligation of confidentiality", did not allow the case to be advanced. The judge also wants to shed light on the travel documents of Ghali’s companions in Spain, namely his son and an Algerian doctor. In this sense, he will request a report from the Zaragoza police information brigade on Ghali’s companions in the ambulance that transported them to the hospital, in order to know if the doctor also entered Spain without going through the required customs controls.