Mohamed Abdellah: miscarriage of justice by the government of Spain

The date of 20 August 2021 will long remain an obscure day in this government shameful legacy; a date when the Interior Minister illegally deported Mohamed Abdellah to Algeria, recklessly disregarding Spain’s international obligations and undermining its commitments to provide safety to those in genuine fear of torture that is systematically practiced by the notorious Algiers military regime.

Mohamed Abdellah, is a 33 years old father of a son and Spanish-born two years old daughter, who gave up his gendarmerie rank in Algeria to denunciate the rife corruption rotting its structures.

Mohamed Abdellah sought asylum and protection in Spain, He abided by the rules of law throughout the three years he lived in, and had confidence and high expectations from what he thought to be a democratic state to uphold its prime responsibility and duty to protect, promote and implement all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

That hope was abruptly ended when the Interior Minister dashed off a decision to sail him back to the port town of Ghazaouat without the legal due process worthy of a respected government.

Mohamed Abdellah was deported despite a 20 years jail sentence in absentia by a court martial in Algeria on 14/05/2019; He was also the subject of Interpol arrest warrant but the Spain’s Ministry of Interior circumvented the Interpol process because that would have blocked the immediate removal to Algeria under the provisions of article 3 of both the UN and the EU Conventions against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The ministry of interior seems to have become a mere pawn serving the interests of the Algerian failed state. Interior Ministry officers just repeated the same fabricated allegations that are being circulated by the propaganda of the Algerian regime against its political opponents.

Upon arrival in Ghazaouat, Abdellah was immediately transferred to the hands of his sadistic torturers stationed at a secret facility somewhere at Algiers heights, he spent the first 48 hours half naked in a cell, then was given a pair of pants to be exhibited as a trophy before TV cameras.

Prior to that he was interrogated by several teams from all the security services, They all reminded him that those questioning sessions were just initial ones while full list of accusations against him are being considered – including court martial – since he belonged to the Gendarmerie Nationale, a military police force under the command of the ministry of defence

Since then, he is being indefinitely interned in Koléa prison in western Algiers, facing lengthy waiting times for an undetermined number of trials.

He is surrounded by deafening uncertainty, likely to be in physical and psychological torture and is being deprived of all rights in a hostile environment with neither access to legal assistance nor health care. His family is under constant pressure and experiences continuous threats and intimidations.

Mohamed Abdellah did not wrong in fighting corruption within his military corps, all the commanding officers of the Algerian gendarmerie have been reprimanded or jailed for corruption; He is also not a terrorist as depicted by the Algerian military dictators; and he can never be a threat to Spain’s interests or national security, he was in Spain for three years and was never suspected of such an allegation prior to the Algerian regimes’ propaganda reproduced here by Spain’s Ministry of Interior.

Mohamed Abdellah must be freed and returned to Spain to be exonerated for the mission he tasked himself with. He commands respect and pride for the sacrifice he did for the Algerian people at such a young age. Free men and women in Spain, Europe, Algeria and elsewhere must stand and do whatever they can to secure his immediate release.

14/09/2021