The Polisario Front police arrest a young Spaniard in the refugee camps

Mohammed Salem uld Souid, who was intercepted by a military patrol on his way to Tindouf with his wife

The campaign of repression unleashed by the Polisario Front following this week’s anti-corruption demonstrations by groups of young people in the refugee camps continues.

After Friday’s raid which resulted in the arrest of eleven people, the Polisario police arrested Mohammed Salem uld Souid yesterday evening and took him to an unknown location.

According to the testimony of relatives, Souid was intercepted by a military patrol on his way to Tindouf last night with his wife. He was forcibly removed from the vehicle, leaving the woman alone in the middle of the road. The young man was brutally assaulted in front of his wife, who suffered a tremendous panic attack and was left alone in the vehicle until 1 a.m. halfway between Rabuni and Tindouf.

The young man, who appeared on the networks on Thursday denouncing corruption and illegal fuel trafficking next to the tankers immobilised by the demonstrators, is a Spanish national.
Since the beginning of April, the refugee camps have been the scene of many demonstrations and protests against the Polisario Front’s leadership, denouncing the restrictions and measures against free movement, as well as the corruption that blights the organisation in all its structures.

The authorities have taken strong control measures by closing the access to Rabuni, the main administrative headquarters of the Polisario in the vicinity of the Algerian town of Tindouf.
The Saharawi Movement for Peace (SMP) has denounced in letters to the United Nations (UN) the campaign of repression and the disproportionate use of police force by the Polisario Front against the Saharawi refugees.