Interview with El Mundo
El Mundo reporter: “His name is Lachen Ikassrien, he is waiting to be evicted from this house, he spent more than three ears in Guantanamo Bay, and until the Spanish judicial authority requested his extradition from Guantanamo Bay and was surrendered in May 2005”.
Lachen Ikassrien: “They brought me to Spain on the orders of Judge Garzon, although I am out on the street, free, but I’m like being in Guantanamo, I can’t work because I don’t have legal documents, I can’t rent, can’t do anything, because I don’t have legal residency here.”
El Mundo: “Lachen, a Moroccan of 42 years old, he was tried and acquitted of terrorism in Spain. The only document that he has is this court decree (order) stating that he should not be deported until his situation dealt with”.
LI: “Once they had released me in the street after being acquitted at the trail and pronounced innocent, they have done nothing for me, anything I ask, wherever I go, whether the Interior ministry or the Justice ministry the doors are closed in front of me. I feel like I’m still in Guantanamo. I am constantly being followed by the police; I’m now in a bigger Guantanamo.”
El Mundo: “He is paying 350 euro per month rent, he lives in this house in Madrid with his pregnant wife, (the original owner of the house was renting this to Lachen, but the bank repossessed the house, so now the owners are the Bank) bank has put on embargo on the house.”
There is a knock on the door and Lachen answers it to a woman and the police. The woman identifies herself as the Court Secretary
Court secretary: “Good morning we are from the court, are you the one renting this flat?”
LI: “Yes.”
Court secretary: “We’ve got a court order for eviction; we have come to enforce the court order.”
El Mundo: “They are describing that he is in a state of shock that he is to be evicted.”
LI: “Where do I go to live?”
Court secretary: “I don’t know.”
El Mundo: “Lachen is showing his indignation, but the court secretary and the police don’t know anything about his situation, they only came to enforce the court order.”
LI: “You should give this notification to the Interior ministry and Justice Ministry, they are the ones who brought me here from Guantanamo in agreement with the Americans and they should give me somewhere to stay.”
Court secretary: “All your stuff and belongings in the house will be taken by us and put in safe storage.”
LI: “What about me, then I go sleep under a bridge?”
Court secretary: “Do you have any type of identification, passport etc...?”
LI: “I don’t have any; I only have this court document, that’s all.”
A police officer says: “This courts document which you carry is not ok (sufficient)”
LI: “That’s all I have.”
Court secretary: “Don’t you have any type of documents, passport, anything?”
LI: “No. Nothing, I’m without any documents (unknown, unidentified) in Spain.”
El Mundo: “The Court Secretary has called the Bank, and it has been decided to postpone the eviction for another two weeks.”
Court secretary: “Mr Lachen on the 28th of this month at 10.30am you will be evicted.”
El Mundo: “Spain has not granted him refugee status and if he goes to Morocco he can be sent to prison and tortured.”
LI: “They brought me here (to Spain), they left me in the street and all the doors are closed in front of me, if they give me a document tomorrow and tell me we don’t want you to be here, then tomorrow I will leave this country, but on the condition that I have those documents in my hand.”
El Mundo: “The Interior ministry has offered a work permit and a residency to those Gitmo prisoners who have arrived in Spain based on the agreement with the government of Barrack Obama, but this agreement (treaty) does not cover Lachen who is the first Gitmo prisoner to arrive in Spain. If nothing happens before the 28th July Lachen and his wife will be left out in the street” <End>
Translation courtesy of Farid and Khadijah Hilali
The following morning Lahcen and his pregnant wife were evicted and thrown out on to the street
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