Spain holds paedophile accidentally released by Morocco

A Spaniard who was convicted in Morocco of raping 11 children and then mistakenly pardoned by the North African country’s king must be held in jail while officials from both countries discuss his fate, a Spanish court has ruled.

Judge Fernando Andreu sent Daniel Galvan Vina to jail after the state prosecutor’s office said his criminal record was very serious and there was a flight risk, Spain’s National Court said.

Spanish and Moroccan Justice Ministry officials are to meet later in Madrid to decide what to do with Galvan. He was arrested in the south-eastern city of Murcia yesterday on an international arrest warrant after Morocco’s King Mohammed VI rescinded his pardon following protests at home.

Spain says it asked Morocco last month to pardon 18 Spaniards in jail there and transfer 30 others, including Galvan, back to Spain, but the Moroccans pardoned and released all 48.

Galvan, 63, was convicted in 2011 and was serving a 30-year sentence in Morocco before the pardon came through.

Protests broke out in Morocco’s capital Rabat last week after it was revealed that Galvan had been freed.

Morocco is seeking his extradition but under a bilateral agreement he could be allowed to serve his sentence in Spain.

The Spanish National Court ruling said Galvan told the court he was born in Iraq but was granted Spanish nationality after marrying a Spaniard, from whom he is now divorced.

The court said he has spent most of his life in Spain and Iraq but has also lived in the UK, Egypt, Syria, Jordan and most recently Morocco.