Mohamed Said Badaoui, the Islamic leader resident in Reus (Tarragona) expelled from Spain whom the National Police accuses of being a danger to national security for participating in «pro-jihadist» activities, has published a video on his social networks with Amarouch Azbir, another activist who has also been expelled, outside a police station in Casablanca, Morocco.
«We are here in Morocco, in Casablanca, we have just left the police station. The treatment of the Moroccan police has been exemplary, cordial, they have done the work they had to do due to the unjust complaints of the National Police against us,» says Said Badaoui, who appears next to Azbir.
In the video, he explains how on Friday night the National Police went to pick them up from the center for foreigners in Barcelona and transferred them to Madrid by car, where they arrived around 5 am. «A plane was waiting for just the two of us, so you can see what they have done to do their best to expel us from Spain,» Badaoui adds.
Mohamed Said was arrested on October 19 and, during this time of stay in a CIE, he has received visits from NGOs and human rights associations.
ERC, CUP, Junts and Unidas Podemos-En Comú Podem denounced after his arrest that Mohamed Said is a victim of «political repression through the Law on Foreigners». Hence they urged the Generalitat of Catalonia to «activate all administrative, legal and diplomatic tools to ensure his rights».
However, the Administrative Chamber of the National Court (AN) refused last Thursday, October 20, to suspend the expulsion of Mohamed Said, whom the police profile as «one of the main referents in Spain of the most orthodox Salafism», responsible for the «increase of radicalism in the region of Tarragona because of his discourse».
The decision of the Audiencia Nacional also affected Amarouch Azbir, arrested for the same reasons of being a danger to national security, when the magistrates rejected the precautionary measures requested by Said and Azbir in the appeals presented by both against the resolution dictated last September 14 by the Secretary of State for Security of the Ministry of the Interior. In this resolution, their expulsion from the national territory was agreed and they were forbidden to return for ten years.
In the case of Said, the Chamber recalled that the decision of the Interior was based on a denunciation of the General Commissariat of Information which warns of «his ideological radicalism», specifically mentioning the «indoctrination» in his community through the dissemination of «pro-jihadist postulates». The order stated that he had been transferred from Reus to Madrid «to be expelled tomorrow», in reference to Friday, October 21.
Thus, the Police defines him as «one of the main referents in Spain of the most orthodox Salafism, which he preaches, with such an influence that, since his arrival, there has been an increase of radicalism in the region of Tarragona because of his speech». In addition, it warns that he would have «links with radical individuals related to terrorism».
It details that Said has been dedicated «for years» to activities of «proselytism and recruitment, especially with the most vulnerable and manipulable groups, paying special attention to minors, specifically unaccompanied minors, mainly of Moroccan origin, indoctrinating them in the most radical Salafism». It would also have been dedicated to promoting «victimhood and occidentalophobia».
PRIMA EL INTERÉS GENERAL FRENTE AL AL PERSONAL However, the Court considers that in this specific case the interests of a «general nature» should prevail over those of a personal nature, since he is accused of «a very serious infraction foreseen in article 54.1.a) of Organic Law 4/2000, of January 11, which typifies as such participating in activities contrary to national security or which could damage Spain’s relations with other countries».
The magistrates emphasize that the rejection of the precautionary measures does not prevent the appeals formulated from following their course in the National Court. For the Chamber, their eventual expulsion will not cause irreparable damage, although it will be «difficult to repair», since if Justice finally gives the reason to Said and Azbir «no obstacle is seen in the return to our country and, if applicable, the reparation of the damages caused».
