El Aaiun (occupied territories), 29/05/2006 (SPS) Moroccan police burned the Saharawi citizen, Saiidi Salek, with benzene and fire while submitting him to tortures and interrogatories on Sunday in the police station of the Criminal police in the occupied capital of the Western Sahara, reported close sources to his family.

Concordant sources indicated to SPS that two police officers, Hamid Bahri, under police prefect of El Aaiun, in charge of the security department and Bucreicha Moulud, superintendent of the DST, were personally leading the interrogatory of Mr. Salek, who was transported in emergency to a hospital in the Moroccan city of Agadir (600 km in the north of El Aaiun) where he was put under high medical care.

The Moroccan colonial authorities blamed Mr. Salek and many other Saharawis they arrested on Saturday evening to Sunday early morning for having raised the Saharawi national flags and chanted slogans in favour of the independence of the Western Sahara during a wedding celebration.

The family of Mr. Salek, which was not allowed to approach the hospital of El Aaiun before the victim was transferred to Agadir, believes that two thirds of his body were burned.

On another hand two ex-political prisoners are reported in Moroccan custody, mainly Taoubali El Hafed and Abdalla Abba, as well as other Saharawi citizens still not identified.

Since the starting of the intifada (peaceful popular uprising) last May 2005, two persons were killed under torture, hundreds were wounded and hundreds detained, including 14 still in custody in different Moroccan prisons, it should be recalled. (SPS)

010/090/110/TRD 291517 mai 06 SPS 

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