The Diplomat
The Board of Directors of the Association of Spanish Diplomats (ADE) yesterday came out in defence of Camilo Villarino in his actions as Director of Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, in the case of the Polisario Front leader, Brahim Ghali.
In a statement, the ADE refers to the information that appeared in various media in relation to the process that is being followed in the Court of Instruction number 7 of Zaragoza against Ghali for forgery in private documents, and, specifically, the request presented by the private prosecution to the judge to charge the diplomat Camilo Villarino Marzo for the crimes of prevarication, personal concealment and embezzlement of public funds, for having authorised the entry of the Polisario leader into our country without the need to pass through passport control.
According to this information, in a document sent in mid-July by Villarino himself to the judge, the chief of staff of the then Minister of Foreign Affairs telephoned the second-in-command of the Air Force General Staff, Francisco Javier Fernández Sánchez, on 18 April to warn him that a plane from Algeria was about to land in Zaragoza with Ghali inside.
In his conversation with Villarino, the military officer asked González Laya’s right-hand man if it was necessary for Ghali to undergo “customs or immigration formalities”. “The undersigned replied that it was not necessary, this answer being perfectly consistent both with established practice and with the applicable legislation in force,” he assured the judge in his official letter. “The person who telephoned the Air Staff on 18 April was the undersigned, Camilo Villarino Marzo, director of the minister’s office,” the official letter continues.
The ADE communiqué states that, in light of the known information, Villarino “acted within the framework of his functions, in accordance with the instructions received and the established procedures”.
“The ADE, in addition to being certain that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation and the State Attorney’s Office will carry out a firm defence at the judicial level of the professional integrity of our colleague and his honour, also wishes to highlight his meritorious and dedicated career as a diplomatic official, which has earned him an impeccable reputation,” the statement concludes.
Camilo Villarino, who resigned from his post as Director of the Cabinet of Minister González Laya, after she was replaced by José Manuel Albares on the 10th, is awaiting the Russian government’s approval of his appointment as ambassador to Moscow. Diplomatic circles speculate that if Villarino is indicted, his appointment to the Spanish embassy in Russia could be in jeopardy.
Complaint filed
Meanwhile, yesterday it was announced that the judge of the Audiencia Nacional, Santiago Pedraz, has dismissed one of the two complaints filed against Brahim Ghali for the crime of genocide, considering that the crime has not been proven and that, in any case, the statute of limitations has expired.
In the complaint filed by the Saharawi Association for the Defence of Human Rights, the magistrate considers that the facts, allegedly committed against Moroccan citizens between 1975 and 1990, are time-barred, that the commission of the crime of genocide has not been accredited, and that the testimonies of the witnesses contradict the affirmations of the complaint.
Ghali arrived to testify by videoconference before the judge after several days in hospital for covid-19 in Spain. After his appearance, in which the magistrate refused to send him to prison or to withdraw his passport, as requested by the accusations, Ghali left Spain for Algiers on 2 July.
