MADRID, Spain – The investigating magistrate of the National High Court, María Tardón, has agreed to assume jurisdiction over the investigation into the mass entry of migrants into Ceuta, ruling in an order issued on Monday that there has been a serious attack on Spain’s territorial integrity and concurring with the National Police’s assessment that there was permissiveness among Moroccan security forces while tens of thousands of migrants crossed the border on 30 and 31 July. Magistrate Tardón stated that there has been a clear and undeniable management favouring the process from the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco, adding that the events could constitute crimes against the peace or independence of the State, crimes against the rights of foreign citizens, reckless homicide and criminal organisation.
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By assuming jurisdiction to investigate these alleged crimes, the magistrate aligns herself with the proposal made by the chief prosecutor of the National High Court, Jesús Alonso, in a document dated last Friday. Tardón took this decision after studying the report commissioned from the National Police’s National Immigration and Borders Centre, concluding that the mass entry cannot be considered an isolated or casual event nor a spontaneous occurrence. She concurred with the police that the migratory purpose at the end of July operated only as a formal cover, as the profile of the majority of migrants did not seek to remain in Spanish territory.
The magistrate also noted that the National Immigration and Borders Centre had warned on 29 July of an extreme risk of a mass entry into the autonomous city, and that the effects of what happened had projected onto different planes, including public security, health, social services, defence and other international or geopolitical dimensions. She highlighted that the mass entry was organised in three distinct waves with the objective of eliminating the physical response capacity of Spain’s security forces, planned with absolute disregard for the life and physical integrity of some of the most vulnerable people, who were led to throw themselves into the sea without preparation, equipped with inadequate clothing that once wet could seriously hinder movement during the swim crossing, and provided with precarious flotation aids.
The tragic consequence of this action was the death of at least 83 people, the total number of bodies recovered in Spanish territorial waters. Regarding Morocco’s role in the crisis, the magistrate concurred with the National Police’s conclusions but expressed herself in even more forceful terms, asserting that it is evident that from Moroccan territory there was a clear and undeniable management favouring the process. She referred to the confirmed and graphically contrasted behaviour of Morocco’s security forces, pointing to the evident permissiveness of Moroccan agents who did not carry out any serious attempt to reduce, disperse or move the mass of people away from the border perimeter. The magistrate also shared the National Police’s assessment that Moroccan agents actively guided people towards the autonomous city of Ceuta.
The resolution argued the reasons why the National High Court is competent to carry out a criminal investigation, stating that it corresponds to this court to investigate the crimes that have been indicatively committed, including a crime that compromises the peace or independence of the State, since through illegal or unauthorised acts, Spaniards are exposed to vexations or reprisals against their persons or property. Tardón understands that behind the mass entry there is a crime with the intention of attacking the State, violating its territorial integrity as was well stated by the Prime Minister, who during his visit to Ceuta on 31 July defined the events as an attack, a violation of Spain’s territorial integrity. The magistrate adopted the terms expressed by the National Police and specified that the access of a massive flow of migrants constitutes one of the characteristic methods of hybrid warfare or grey zone conflict, actions typical of States, criminal organisations or terrorist organisations and committed against States.
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The use of migratory flows is one more of the methods used in the so-called grey zone, which is why the investigation must continue in the National High Court. The court is also competent to investigate the events as they constitute an attack against the form of government. Tardón’s order admitted the participation of several popular accusations in the case, including the party Iustitia Europa, which filed the first complaint, Vox, the PP and Ahora España, as well as the associations Hazte Oír, Zeolandia, and Libertad y Justicia. However, the magistrate rejected the participation of Alvise Pérez’s party, Se Acabó La Fiesta, understanding that its complaint directed against the King of Morocco had the sole intention of making a political instrumentalisation of the exercise of criminal action.
