A convicted Spanish paedophile whose pardon by the King of
Morocco sparked riots there has been arrested in Murcia in south-east Spain.
Daniel Galván's arrest is the latest episode in a diplomatic
farce that began with his release at the end of July along with 47 other
Spanish prisoners held in Moroccan jails, the majority of them on drugs
charges, after Spain's King Juan Carlos allegedly appealed for their pardon.
He was released on Sunday after serving barely two years of
his 30-year sentence for sexually abusing 11 children aged between three and
14, leading to riots in front of the parliament building in the Moroccan
capital, Rabat.
In response to the protests, Morocco's King Mohammed VI
revoked Galván's pardon late on Sunday, saying he would never have granted it
had he been aware of the seriousness of his crimes – but Galván had already
left the country.
Initially there was speculation that Galván, an Iraqi with
Spanish citizenship, was pardoned on the orders of Spain's secret service, for
whom he had allegedly been working as a spy in Iraq.
It then emerged that the Moroccan authorities had been
presented with two lists by the Spanish government: one with the names of 15
prisoners to be pardoned, and the other with 33 prisoners to be sent to Spain
to complete their sentences.
The king mistakenly pardoned them all, including
Galván, who went to Spain with the help of Spanish authorities.
The country's royal palace then issued a statement saying
that the king had not presented any list of prisoners and in fact had only
interceded in the case of Antonio García Vidriel, a 58-year-old truck driver
from Seville who is seriously ill.
He was sentenced to six years in 2012 for
smuggling hashish. In the event, García's name was not among the 48 and he
remains in prison while his son, who was serving 10 years for the same offence,
was among those pardoned. The two were caught smuggling nine tonnes of hashish
concealed in a shipment of watermelons.
It is now appears that the list of 48 prisoners was compiled
not by the royal palace but by the Spanish embassy in Rabat, under the
supervision of the Spanish foreign ministry. The fiasco has cost the chief of
the Moroccan prison service his job, but as yet no heads have rolled on the
Spanish side.
Galván, who abused children from poor families with single
mothers whom he invited to parties in his house, was picked up by Spanish
police in a hotel in Murcia after the Moroccan authorities issued a warrant for
his arrest via Interpol.
Two senior Moroccan civil servants will arrive in Madrid on
Wednesday to discuss the fiasco. They will be received by the international
justice minister, Angél Llorente. Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, the Spanish justice
minister, and his opposite number, Mustapha Ramid, pledged their "absolute
co-operation" in resolving the situation.
Spain's opposition socialists are demanding an explanation
as to why the country's authorities supplied Galván with an on-the-spot
passport on his release from jail.
During his trial, Galván, whose victims were as young as
three, was asked by the judge: "Why did you come to Morocco to abuse
children?" He replied: "Because it's cheap and with money you can get
anything you want."
His release led to demonstrations in several Moroccan cities
that were violently put down by police.
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