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Spain arrests paedophile mistakenly pardoned by King of Morocco

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Well done

Spain arrests paedophile mistakenly pardoned by King of Morocco

A Spanish paedophile who was pardoned by the King of Morocco has been rearrested in Spain, after the north African monarch expressed anger at his mistaken release of the prisoner.

King Mohamed VI of Morocco pardoned Daniel Galván Viña, 64, who was convicted of raping 11 children aged between two and 14, without knowing about his crimes.

But on Monday afternoon he was detained in the Spanish city of Murcia, and was likely to be sent back to prison.

Galván was sentenced in September 2011 to 30 years in prison in Morocco, but was pardoned by the King last week and freed – sparking protests in Morocco. The pardon was revoked on Sunday.

"His Highness would never have consented to the release of Daniel Galván, in light of the atrocity of the monstrous crimes of which he has been found guilty," said the palace in a statement.

Galván, who was born in Iraq, moved to Spain in 1976 and the Moroccan port city of Kenitra, 25 miles north of Rabat in 2005, Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo reported.

The Moroccan court which convicted Galván accused him of having "taken advantage of his neighbour's financial difficulties" to sexually abuse the minors, the newspaper added.

"Why did you come here to abuse Moroccan children?" asked the judge sentencing him.

"Because they are cheap, and you can get hold of anything with the right money," he said.

The Spanish embassy in Morocco reportedly gave the Moroccans a list of 18 people who they approved for pardon, and a further 30 which they wanted sending to Spain to serve out their sentences. Galván was in the second group – but Morocco mistakenly pardoned all 48 prisoners.

A "thorough investigation" would be opened, the palace promised, to determine who was responsible for this "disgraceful liberation." The Moroccan director of prisons was sacked on Monday for his role in the mistaken release.

Galván was among 48 Spanish prisoners who were pardoned by the King and freed in response to a request from Spanish King Juan Carlos, who visited Morocco in mid-July.

The pardon sparked outrage in the north African country, which has seen several high-profile paedophile arrests in recent months.

On Friday night, baton-wielding police dispersed several thousand people who tried to protest in front of the parliament in Rabat. Sit-ins planned for Casablanca on Tuesday and Rabat on Wednesday were still due to go ahead.

Galván worked at the University of Murcia in between 1996 and 2002, latterly as an Arabic language teacher.

"He carried out his duties correctly. He was a fellow during the first two years and then he had a work contract for four years," said Jose Antonio Cobacho, the university's president.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...e-mistakenly-pardoned-by-King-of-Morocco.html
 

NoRéN

Member
"Why did you come here to abuse Moroccan children?" asked the judge sentencing him.

"Because they are cheap, and you can get hold of anything with the right money," he said.
holy hell!
 
Did the king just pardon him on a whim? Did he not do, ya know, research of any kind about the person he was pardoning?
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
Did the king just pardon him on a whim? Did he not do, ya know, research of any kind about the person he was pardoning?
Paper mix-up it sounds like:

The Spanish embassy in Morocco reportedly gave the Moroccans a list of 18 people who they approved for pardon, and a further 30 which they wanted sending to Spain to serve out their sentences. Galván was in the second group – but Morocco mistakenly pardoned all 48 prisoners.
 
The Spanish embassy in Morocco reportedly gave the Moroccans a list of 18 people who they approved for pardon, and a further 30 which they wanted sending to Spain to serve out their sentences. Galván was in the second group – but Morocco mistakenly pardoned all 48 prisoners.
For fuck's sake.

11 kids, god damn. I hope this guy never gets out.
 
Wait wait. Was he purchasing time with the children from the poor parents? Or was the poor parents out looking for jobs and left the kids at home and he said he would watch over them? It seems the parents might need to be in jail to as accomplices if he did it because "Because they are cheap, and you can get hold of anything with the right money,"

Makes me sick.
 

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
If the paperwork was done by hand, you could easily turn a 1 (18) into a 4 (48).

What makes this super weird is that this fellow was actually born in Iraq and one of the Moroccan newspapers that uncovered this mess claims that he is former military, and that worked with the Spanish intelligence during the war.

It has not been confirmed, but it certainly adds an interesting spin on things.
 
its more like i kinda wish those parents were arrested. doesn't seem like some kidnap rape thing, seems like an actual business transaction went down. :(
 

Sye d'Burns

Member
Whenever I see "Murcia", I always do a double take because, without fail, I keep reading it as " 'Murica".

Fcuk yeah?

Fixed that for you.

"Why did you come here to abuse Moroccan children?" asked the judge sentencing him.

"Because they are cheap, and you can get hold of anything with the right money," he said.

I wish I could see the judge's face upon hearing that reply. Talk about brazen.
 
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