Daniel Galvan’s case is turning out to be a delicate operation

Daniel Galvan, the convicted Spanish paedophile has been remanded without the possibility of bail after his capture in Murcia. It was also recommended that he was held due to the serious flight risk he represented. This was all ordered by the judge.

Galvan was mistakenly released from a Moroccan jail on a royal pardon and crossed the border into the Spanish exclave of Ceuta – North Africa. Since the royal pardon was granted, the head of prisons that let him free with the others who were pardoned has been sacked.

This is a delicate case for the Spanish authorities. He was arrested with an international warrant issued by Rabat but, cannot be extradited back to Morocco under the terms of the Bilateral agreement. This means that there were no criminal charges pending or on record in the country he entered – Spain – therefore allowing him to enter with no problem.

Galvan ‘was born in Iraq and is an Iraqi citizen but was married to a Spanish woman from whom he is now divorced.’ He had asked the Moroccan authorities for a transfer to Spain along with 29 other prisoners but somehow that list was mixed with the list for the royal pardon. The royal pardon is normally irrevocable but King Mohammed VI, having appeared on live television after the protests, stated that had he known of the severity of the crime, he would never have issued the pardon.

Morocco now has 40 days to put forward all the documentation for the extradition request detailing the sentence and the reasons why the pardon was revoked. Then the Spanish courts have 40 days to make a decision. If denied, Galvan remains in Spain and can appeal any decision to the contrary. However, if the alternative is ruled and the royal pardon is void, it is more than likely he will be sent back.