The Prosecutor's Office opens an investigation into the Melilla tragedy

The Prosecutor's Office will investigate the tragedy at the Melilla fence.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
28 June 2022 Tuesday 09:57
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The Prosecutor's Office opens an investigation into the Melilla tragedy

The Prosecutor's Office will investigate the tragedy at the Melilla fence. The attorney general, Dolores Delgado, today signed a decree in which she orders the initiation of an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the massive jump in which dozens of immigrants died. A decision that she comes after learning that the Ombudsman will also try to clarify what happened last Friday.

In a decree, Delgado entrusts the Prosecutor of the Immigration Coordinating Chamber, Beatriz Sánchez, with investigating the circumstances of the events that occurred on June 25 at the Melilla border. According to the Moroccan authorities, during the massive jump, at least 23 people lost their lives in Moroccan territory, and many others were injured. Several associations that work in favor of human rights raise this figure to 37 deceased.

The decision of the State Attorney General is based on the significance and seriousness of the events that occurred, which could affect human rights and the fundamental rights of people, as well as the uniqueness and complexity of the investigation. The Chamber Prosecutor had raised this morning a communication requesting the opening of investigation proceedings to clarify what happened.

For its part, the Moroccan embassy in Spain has assured today that the jump to the fence was planned by "seasoned and trained" leaders in conflict zones who entered Moroccan territory from Algeria thanks to "the deliberate laxity" of that country in border control.

According to Morocco, the assailants acted with "extreme violence" and were armed "with sticks, machetes, stones and knives", wounding 140 agents, one of whom is still hospitalized. On the contrary, he maintains that "the forces of order demonstrated a high sense of control and professionalism".

The version offered by the embassy maintains that the assailants chose a different point than usual to undertake the jump, in the so-called Bario-Chinese post, which has four narrow corridors, so "the massive influx of attackers in these narrow corridors has caused a big push."

It also underlines "the extreme violence of the assailants and the strategy of the assault that prevailed and that denotes a high sense of organization, a planned progression and a hierarchical structure of seasoned and trained leaders with profiles of experienced militiamen in conflict zones."