Case History: Salah Eddine Bassir
On 30 September 2015, a court of appeals in Laayoune, Western Sahara upheld the four year prison sentence against Sahrawi human rights defender Salah Eddine Bassir.
Salah Eddine Bassir is a member of the Organisation Soleil de Liberté pour la Protection des Défenseurs Sahraouis des Droits de l'Homme (Freedom Sun Organisation for the Protection of Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders).
On 30 September 2015, a court of appeals in Laayoune, Western Sahara upheld the four year prison sentence against Sahrawi human rights defender Salah Eddine Bassir.
The charges against Bassir relate to a protest in May 2013, when authorities arrested five Sahrawi youth demonstrating to demand self-determination for the Sahrawi people. The group had been subjected to pretrial detention in El-Ayoun's local prison before being temporarily released after five months. The charges against them included “forming a criminal gang”, “armed mob”, “insulting officials during the performance of their duties”, and “putting barricades in the road”. Salah Eddine Bassir was being searched for on the basis of the same charges, so he escaped to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. After he learned that the five other Sahrawi people were released, Salah decided to return to Western Sahara. SSalah Eddine Bassir was arrested again on 6 June 2015, immediately after his arrival at El-Ayoun. The human rights defender was subsequently transferred to the local prison.
On 29 June 2015, the human rights defender Mr Salah Eddine Bassir appeared before the investigating judge at the Court of Appeal in the city of El-Ayoun. Bassir's lawyers, Habib Al-Rakibi, Mohamed Abu Khaled, and Bazeed Al-Hamad, said that the charges against Bassir lack evidence, and are based solely on a statement of confession that Bassir signed under duress in 2013. According to the lawyers, Bassir was subjected to harassment in detention including being tortured and blindfolded and denied the opportunity to read the charges against him.
At his trial, Bassir denied the charges against him, and stressed that he will continue to struggle for human rights and self determination for the Sahrawi people.
On 29 June 2015 human rights defender Mr Salah Eddine Bassir appeared before the investigating judge at the Court of Appeal in the city of El-Ayoun. The investigating judge has failed to provide a date for the verdict.
Salah Eddine Bassir was detained on 6 June 2015 by Moroccan police in El-Ayoun, on the basis of a search warrant dating back to May 2013 and which followed the detention of five young Sahrawi people in the town of Al-Samara after their participation in protests calling for the Sahrawi people's right to self-determination. The group had been subjected to pretrial detention in El-Ayoun's local prison before being temporarily released after five months. The charges against them included “forming a criminal gang”, “armed mob”, “insulting officials during the performance of their duties”, and “putting barricades in the road”. Salah Eddine Bassir was being searched for on the basis of the same charges, which made him escape to the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. After he learned that the five other Sahrawi people were released, Salah decided to return to Western Sahara. Salah Eddine Bassir's arrest occurred immediately after his arrival at El-Ayoun. The human rights defender was subsequently transferred to the local prison.
On 8 June 2015 the investigating judge had also heard the preliminary investigation of Salah Eddine Bassir's case. In accordance with Moroccan law an investigating judge is allowed a period of ten months to pass a verdict.
