Controversy: Spanish pedophile, sentenced to 30-year prison term, pardoned by Morocco’s Mohammed VI
BY: Hana Saada
ALGIERS- Moroccans took to the streets, protesting against the pardon granted by the king Mohammed VI to the Spanish pedophile Daniel Galvan Viña.
Sentenced, in 2011, to thirty years in prison in Morocco for pedophilia, as he raped many children agaed between 4-15 in Morocco, the Spanish pedophile was pardoned, in 2013, by King Mohammed VI before the sovereign reconsidered his decision, due to the pressure exercised by the demonstators who gathered en masse slaming this shameful decision.
faced by the Moroccan protestors who demanded full transparency in this affair, the king claimed that “he was not aware of the gravity of this atypical case.”
“Less than 24 hours after announcing the opening of an investigation into this regrettable release, the Moroccan sovereign finally decided to cancel the pardon. This decision, of an exceptional nature, is motivated by the seriousness of the crimes committed and respect for the rights of victims”, indicated the royal palace.
And to add, the royal palace claimed that “Mohammed VI had never been informed, in any way whatsoever and at any time, of the seriousness of the heinous crimes for which the person concerned was convicted”. Facing one of the worst political crises since he reigned, the king of Morocco had to give in to the anger of the citizens!
A false identity?
Following the cancellation of the pardon, Moroccan and Spanish media put forward the thesis of a false identity of Daniel Galvan Viña, which would explain the king’s gesture – a “favor” granted by Rabat after an urgent request from the CNI, the Spanish intelligence agency, according to the Moroccan electronic newspaper Lakome. “It is likely that he was a spy,” also wrote the Spanish daily El Pais.
According to El Pais, Galvan had told his lawyer that he was a former officer in the Iraqi army and had collaborated with the foreign secret services to overthrow Saddam Hussein in 2003. Exfiltrated in Spain, he would have benefited from a new identity.
Noting that Daniel Galvan Viña was part of a list of 48 Spanish prisoners to whom the King of Morocco granted pardon, in the name of the excellence of bilateral relations between the two countries, a few days after a visit by the Spanish King Juan Carlos.
Pedophilia in Morocco
The phenomenom of pedophilia is explosive in Morocco, where the NGO “Touche pas à mon enfant” or “”Don’t Touch My Child” estimates that 26,000 children are raped per year, or 71 per day. “And some of these crimes are committed by well-organized networks of pedophiles, evolving powerful politicians and European business leaders”, noted El Mundo.
