Paris (France), January 21, 2017 (SPS) - Western Sahara people's legitimate representative Frente POLISARIO has filed a complaint with the Regional Customs Department of Rouen, France, against the shipping of marine oil imported illegally from Western Sahara.
In the complaint, the POLISARIO's solicitor, lawyer Gilles Devers, told the head of the French Customs that the case seriously undermines law and order, as there is a violation of Saharawi people's right to benefit of their own natural resources combined with the denial of the principles set by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)'s ruling of 21 December 2016.
The lawyer said that considering the strategic issues underway and the public impact of the CJEU's decision, it is difficult to believe that the other economic operators were unaware of the applicable law," calling for investigations with those behind Key Bay tankers' shipping.
The Key Bay was shipping, a few days ago, a cargo of marine oil from El Aaiun, the occupied capital of Western Sahara.
The Court of Justice of the European Union, in its decision of 21 December 2016, banned importation of products relating to illegal exploitation of Western Sahara's natural resources.
Devers recalled that Western Sahara people have been struggling, since 1975, against illegal Moroccan occupation.
He stressed that the Saharawi people are living under Moroccan economic discrimination and are subject to serious violations of their basic rights.
Europe Ecology delegation at the European Parliament, for its part, has requested from the French Customs to examine relevant import documents to declare the cargo shipped from El Aaiun is illegally imported.SPS
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