MEPs denounce Morocco’s lies

Eurodiputados denuncian las falsas alegaciones y acusaciones engañosas de Marrucos contra los diputados que votaron a favor de la resolución de condena de las violaciones de la libertad de prensa en Marruecos

BRUSSELS – APS.dz – MEPs denounce Morocco’s false allegations and misleading accusations against MEPs who voted in favour of the resolution condemning press freedom violations in Morocco.

Interviewed by the exiled opposition activist Dounia Filali, Ana Miranda MEP for the Greens/European Free Alliance said: “The Moroccan Parliament spent one day debating the European Parliament (EP) resolution. It has presented totally miserable and false arguments, which we cannot accept.

“We know that making false accusations against all those who touch their interests is their way of acting”, added the Spanish parliamentarian, underlining that “those who criticise Morocco are in prison, dead or in exile”.

For his part, Miguel Urbán, from the left-wing parliamentary group, explained that he was not “anti-Moroccan” as the local press presented him, but that he was “against a regime that oppresses its own people and does not allow the right to fundamental freedoms”.

Apparently unsurprised by the Moroccan regime’s spurious accusations, the MEPs explain this campaign of denigration of MEPs by the fact that for more than 25 years Morocco has protected itself against any condemnation by the EP, thanks to the network of corruption that it has installed in the Chamber.

“In 25 years, Morocco has never been condemned despite the seriousness of the human rights violations committed. Whether it’s freedom of the press, the pressure exerted on the issue of emigration or other issues. We thought it was a question of the EP’s strategic position, to protect a privileged partner of the European Union. We thought it was related to the blackmail exercised by Morocco on the issues of migration and the fight against terrorism, but now we know that in reality it was all part of a mafia plot. We are facing the most important case of corruption in the history of the EP, because Morocco has influenced Parliament’s decisions,” said Mr Urban.

According to Ana Miranda, “the Moroccan authorities are angry because they have set up a system of corruption and friends in the EP to defend their interests and influence Parliament’s decisions, as they did with the fisheries, agricultural and trade agreements in general”.

“But now that the light has shone and the truths have come out, it is more difficult for Morocco, which is why it does not accept the condemnation,” he explained, pointing out that the resolution in question was the result of a broad consensus within the EP.

Criticising Morocco’s practices of corruption and blackmail against the European institution, Miguel Urban drew a parallel with current relations between Morocco and Spain.

“The position of Pedro Sánchez and his government towards Morocco is indecent. Spain, whose Socialist MEPs voted against the EP resolution, wants to perpetuate Rabat’s impunity. In return, Sánchez wants Morocco to act as a policeman to guard our borders. The indecency of this position is summed up by what happened on 24 June in Nador and Melilla, where more than forty people were killed by Moroccan police while Spanish police looked on idly. But from now on, Europe can no longer allow Morocco’s criminal regime to continue to violate the human rights of migrants”.