Prosecutor's Office opens investigation into Melilla tragedy

MadridThe Prosecutor's Office will open an investigation into the dozens of deaths at the Melilla fence. The attorney general of the State, Dolores Delgado, has signed a decree this Tuesday in which she orders the coordinating prosecutor for foreigners, Beatriz Sánchez, to find out the "circumstances of the events that occurred last June 25 at the border of Melilla". "According to journalistic reports, a minimum of 23 people lost their lives in Moroccan territory and many others were injured", the statement made public by the public prosecutor's office notes. Delgado's decision is based on the "transcendence and seriousness of the facts, which could affect human rights and fundamental rights of individuals, as well as the uniqueness and complexity of the investigation," the Prosecutor's Office adds.

According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the prosecutor had already requested Delgado to open proceedings. She has taken the step four days after the event and under pressure from political groups and human rights organisations that have demanded both independent investigations and investigations to be carried out by the states involved, Spain and Morocco. Precisely, this Tuesday the United Nations committee on migrant workers has asked the two countries to immediately and fully investigate the causes of death of 23 sub-Saharan migrants. "It has not yet been established whether the victims moved when the fence fell, during the avalanche or as a result an action by border agents," said the UN body responsible for ensuring compliance with the international convention on migrant workers' rights.