Press Statement by the Portuguese Communist Party
On October 30 and 31, the president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY) and Coordinator of the International Organizing Committee of the 17th. World Festival of Youth and Students, Tiago Vieira, was detained and expelled by the Moroccan authorities without any consistent explanation.
On a visit to Laayoune, following an appeal and invitation by the Saharawi youth UJSARIO in view of the siege imposed on the Western Sahrawi activists in that region (a siege that has already led to the death of a 14 year old youth murdered a few days ago by the Moroccan forces), Tiago Vieira was approached by the Moroccan police while still inside the plane arriving from Casablanca, and just landed in Laayoune. He was questioned on the reasons of his visit to that region of Morocco and photos of his face and passport were taken, without any explanation whatsoever and saying that they were “following orders”.
Detained inside the plane, the WFDY president was later forced to return to Casablanca, deprived of his passport, which was held by the pilot of the plane during the flight. On arriving in Casablanca, without managing to recover his passport, he was taken to a police car, who now held his passport and took him to a room where, with cold and no place to sleep, held for more than 15 hours without any justification, and was then informed (after 12 hours) that the Moroccan police had placed him on the next flight to Portugal. Escorted by the police to the boarding gate of the flight, the WFDY president once again insisted on knowing the reason for this expulsion from the country, and was once again told that these were “orders from someone superior”.
PCP repudiates the actions of the various Moroccan authorities involved in an action offending several rules of International Law, the agreements between Portugal and Morocco on the circulation of people, as well as Human Rights.
Besides the positions he holds in the World Federation of Democratic Youth and in the International Organizing Committee of the 17th. World Festival of Youth and Students, Tiago Vieira is a leader of JCP and member of PCP’s Central Committee.
PCP will use the institutional and legal means at its disposal to demand from the Moroccan authorities a prompt and full explanation of what occurred, as well as a necessary formal apology to Tiago Vieira, as president of the World Federation of Democratic Youth.
The PCP demands from the Portuguese government the need to act before the diplomatic representation of Morocco in Portugal to have a prompt and full explanation of what occurred and an unequivocal and prompt condemnation of the actions of the Moroccan authorities against Tiago Vieira and against WFDY, an organization which is a “Peace Messenger” of the United Nations, maintains relations with UNESCO, with members in more than 120 countries, and a holder, during the 64 years of its existence, of a valuable heritage in defense of peace and the rights of the people and the youth, against imperialism, fascism and colonialism.
