Arrested President of the Saharawi Committee for Protection of Natural
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Sidahmed Lemjiyed, President of the Saharawi Committee for Protection of Natural Resources (CSPRON) was arrested on Dec. 25 in El Aaiun, based on arrest orders issued by the General Prosecutor in November 2010. Lemjiyed Sidahmed has been referred to the Military Tribunal.
Published 01 January 2010


On December 26, 2010, Attorney General of the King of the Court of Appeal in El Aaiun in Western Sahara declared lack of jurisdiction and referred to the Military Court of Rabat in Morocco's case against the Saharawi Human Rights Defender Sidahmed Lemjiyed for his participation in the protest camp Camp Gdeim Izik outside El Aaiun in October-November.

Should the Court of First Instance and Court of Military Instruction agree to admit to conduct proceedings against Mr Sidahmed Lemjiyed , he will be sent to the Salé prison in Morocco, becoming the No. 20 of the detainees processes pending before this Court.

"Western Sahara Resource Watch strongly condemn the unjustified and arbitrary detention of Lemjiyed Sidahmed, as well as all other Saharawi that have been detained without charges", said Javier García Lachica, President of Western Sahara Resource Watch in Spain . "It is intolerable," said Mr. García Lachica, "that Moroccan authorities act with such impunity with the indifference of MINURSO and the international community."

Sidahmed Lemjiyed is the President of the Saharawi Committee for the Protection of Natural Resources (CSPRON) and has worked extensively with WSRW denouncing the exploitation of natural resources in the occupied territories. "Mr. Lemjiyed is a Sahrawi activist who actively works to defend the right of the Sahrawi to enjoy their natural resources and their right to hold referendum on self-determination of Western Sahara, both rights recognized by the UN General Assembly. Therefore, his arrest was completely arbitrary and we demand their immediate release. "

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