Translation by Rana Abdul
(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Syrian refugee Abdel Rahman al-Hajj Ali sits in the Moroccan Sla prison since October 30 2014 away from his family and children following a court case, he calls it a setup, against him brought about by a Saudi Arabian guarantor which led to an Interpol search warrant for his arrest on charges of breaching trust although he was given a certificate of having no criminal record prior admitting there is no debt or standing commitment between the two parties prior to his leaving Saudi Arabia.
Al-Hajj Ali managed a tourism company for renting cars in 2007 in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia as other Gulf states depends on the guarantor system al-Hajj Ali was forced to register the company and all its receipts in the same of a Saudi citizen guarantor for him to be able to do business within the bounds of Saudi law.
Al-Hajj Ali confirmed to Zaman al-Wasl that he hired Syrians, Sudanese and Pakistani persons as employees for the company and all issue were going well until his supposed partner betrayed him. He adds that he used to deposit the company profits in one of the Saudi banks and one day he was surprised to find that his partner, whom he refused to name, had withdrawn a large sum of money from the account with telling him.
The event forced al-Hajj to break up the partnership and travel to Syria to be surprised that he is wanted by Interpol after his former partner fabricated a case against him in agreement with some of the company employees whom the partner threatened with cancelling their guarantee, status, and stopping their salaries if they did not testify with him.
Given the situation of war al-Hajj Ali was forced to leave Syria with great difficulty in 2013 when he travelled to Algeria and as Syrians cannot legally enter Morocco, al-Hajj was forced to enter illegally and seek asylum with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees there. He settled with his small family, his wife and three children, in the city of Kenitra where he opened a restaurant to meet his family’s financial needs only to be surprised once more that he was followed for the prior charge of breach of trust.
The Moroccan authorities arrested him based on the international search warrant issued by the Interpol office in Riyadh for him to be placed one of the Moroccan prisons for 21 months without any legal support. Despite several Moroccan lawyers defending him, humanitarian and human rights organizations demanding his release, and his case taking center stage of Moroccan newspapers, this changed nothing according to our speaker who fears that he will be deported to Saudi Arabia which may present a threat against his life.
Al-Hajj Ali revealed that the Saudi guarantor threatened him in front of Moroccan security authorities with slaughter as well as using every possible means to pressure the Moroccan legal and security authorities to speed up al-Hajj Ali’s deportation.
In turn the International Association for Rights and Liberties in Morocco saw in Morocco handing over the Syrian citizen Abdel Rahman al-Hajj Ali to Saudi Arabia a breach for international treaties which Morocco is a signatory to.
The organization al-Karamah (Dignity) directed on May 23, 2015 in Geneva an emergency appeal to the Committee Against Torture in the United Nations in which it touched upon the need to intervene with the Moroccan government to demand it takes the necessary measures to cancel the process to hand over Abdel Rahman to Saudi Arabia based on the 3rd article in the Convention Against Torture which includes the clause, “No State Party shall expel, return "refouler" or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”
(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Syrian refugee Abdel Rahman al-Hajj Ali sits in the Moroccan Sla prison since October 30 2014 away from his family and children following a court case, he calls it a setup, against him brought about by a Saudi Arabian guarantor which led to an Interpol search warrant for his arrest on charges of breaching trust although he was given a certificate of having no criminal record prior admitting there is no debt or standing commitment between the two parties prior to his leaving Saudi Arabia.
Al-Hajj Ali managed a tourism company for renting cars in 2007 in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia as other Gulf states depends on the guarantor system al-Hajj Ali was forced to register the company and all its receipts in the same of a Saudi citizen guarantor for him to be able to do business within the bounds of Saudi law.
Al-Hajj Ali confirmed to Zaman al-Wasl that he hired Syrians, Sudanese and Pakistani persons as employees for the company and all issue were going well until his supposed partner betrayed him. He adds that he used to deposit the company profits in one of the Saudi banks and one day he was surprised to find that his partner, whom he refused to name, had withdrawn a large sum of money from the account with telling him.
The event forced al-Hajj to break up the partnership and travel to Syria to be surprised that he is wanted by Interpol after his former partner fabricated a case against him in agreement with some of the company employees whom the partner threatened with cancelling their guarantee, status, and stopping their salaries if they did not testify with him.
Given the situation of war al-Hajj Ali was forced to leave Syria with great difficulty in 2013 when he travelled to Algeria and as Syrians cannot legally enter Morocco, al-Hajj was forced to enter illegally and seek asylum with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees there. He settled with his small family, his wife and three children, in the city of Kenitra where he opened a restaurant to meet his family’s financial needs only to be surprised once more that he was followed for the prior charge of breach of trust.
The Moroccan authorities arrested him based on the international search warrant issued by the Interpol office in Riyadh for him to be placed one of the Moroccan prisons for 21 months without any legal support. Despite several Moroccan lawyers defending him, humanitarian and human rights organizations demanding his release, and his case taking center stage of Moroccan newspapers, this changed nothing according to our speaker who fears that he will be deported to Saudi Arabia which may present a threat against his life.
Al-Hajj Ali revealed that the Saudi guarantor threatened him in front of Moroccan security authorities with slaughter as well as using every possible means to pressure the Moroccan legal and security authorities to speed up al-Hajj Ali’s deportation.
In turn the International Association for Rights and Liberties in Morocco saw in Morocco handing over the Syrian citizen Abdel Rahman al-Hajj Ali to Saudi Arabia a breach for international treaties which Morocco is a signatory to.
The organization al-Karamah (Dignity) directed on May 23, 2015 in Geneva an emergency appeal to the Committee Against Torture in the United Nations in which it touched upon the need to intervene with the Moroccan government to demand it takes the necessary measures to cancel the process to hand over Abdel Rahman to Saudi Arabia based on the 3rd article in the Convention Against Torture which includes the clause, “No State Party shall expel, return "refouler" or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”
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