The defense in the case of Brahim Ghali demanded that the accused come to testify in Spain to explain his entry with a false Algerian diplomatic passport and a false identity.
The case of Mohamed Benbattouche returns to the center of the affair of the illegal entry and with the complicity of the Sanchez government, of Brahim Ghali, the leader of the polisario, the Sahrawi separatist militia supported by Algeria in the conflict of the Sahara.
The defense lawyer denounces the entry of Brahim Ghali into Spain under a false identity, that of Mohamed Benbattouche, a name appearing on a false Algerian diplomatic passport which had been issued to him the same day.
The Spanish government had orchestrated Brahim Ghali’s entry in secret through a small airport in the city of Logroño, so as not to arouse curiosity. He had landed in the Iberian Peninsula and transferred directly to hospital, escaping customs checks and verification of his identity and passport.
These customs checks would have made it possible to discover the liabilities of Brahim Ghali and to see that he has been wanted by the Spanish courts since 2008 for several serious crimes, in particular genocide, enforced disappearances, torture and rape.
The defense lawyer, Antonio Urdiales, believes that the magistrate, Rafael Lasala, must establish the responsibilities in the illegal entry of Brahim Ghali, and in this sense, he urged him to summon the leader of the Polisario Front so that testifies and explains why he used a false passport and registered under a false identity at the hospital in Logroño.
Lawyer wants Brahim Ghali to be subpoenaed as person under investigation for “use of forgery”, and “use of false document in a public establishment”. And for this, he believes that the address in Madrid, communicated by Brahim Ghali to judge Santiago Pedraz in the other case in which he is being prosecuted (and which the judge has closed), should serve as an address to locate him since he provided it himself.
In the previous cases in which Brahim Ghali is being prosecuted, the judges have been unable to summon him to appear, because the Spanish police have never been able to find him a fixed address, neither in Spain nor in Algeria, where to send him summonses to appear.
Although it was not Brahim Ghali who fabricated his false documents and that they were issued to him by Algeria, lawyer Antonio Urdiales believes that there is cause to prosecute him in person.
“The fact that it was an unidentified third party who physically delivered the false document to the hospital in no way exonerates the person who benefits from it.and who is committing this crime, the attorney said.
The lawyer who sent a letter to Judge Lasala also asked the magistrate to quote a statement from the former chief of staff of the former head of Spanish diplomacy Arancha Gonzales Laya, Camilo Villarino (both charged in this case , Editor’s note) and the chief of staff of the Minister of the Interior, Susana Crisóstomo, to clarify who was responsible for informing the police of the arrival of Brahim Ghali in Spain.
In addition, it will be a question of knowing why and how, an alleged Algerian doctor and the son of the leader of the polisario accompanied Brahim Ghali in Spain while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had expressly prohibited their entry into the territory, and that this order was transferred to Zaragoza Air Base officials.
On February 7, Judge Lasala will question an inspector from the General Information Police Station as a witness to try to clarify, among other things, why the police did not open an investigation when they discovered that Brahim Ghali used false documents (false name, false passport) in the hospital.
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