(AI Translated) Hussein Bashir Amadour, the Sahrawi student and Sahrawi political prisoner, is among the Sahrawi students who have been arrested and tried in the context of student, political and human‑rights activities related to the Western Sahara issue. His involvement in student activism dates back to early years, when he participated in organizing peaceful protests and marches of Sahrawi students, and he also engaged in a number of cultural, intellectual and student initiatives.

Hussein Bashir Amadour was born and is 35 years old. He holds a bachelor's degree in public law from Ibn Zahr University in Agadir and was pursuing his second year of a master’s program in public law and political science. He was a member of the Sahrawi Center for Culture and Thought in the occupied city of Laayoune, and he participated in the political and union committee of the Sahrawi Student Movement during 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Student and cultural activity
His activity was linked to defending student demands and participating in cultural and intellectual events. He helped organize and lead several student protests and marches, notably a protest held in front of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Rabat on 7 December 2015, demanding the creation of a university in Western Sahara.

He was also part of the organizing committee of an intellectual symposium held by the Sahrawi Center for Culture and Thought on 22 February 2014 under the title “The Dialectic of Spontaneity and Organization in Peaceful Demonstrations: A Critical Reading of the Sahrawi Experience.” He represented Sahrawi students during the first youth forum organized by the same center in partnership with the “Akdim Ezik Coordination for Peaceful Mobilization” on 19 April 2015.

His activities also included organizing a football league in the city of Tan-Tan in 2013 in memory of the late Sahrawi “Khalil Sidi Mohamed,” as well as monitoring the trials of several Sahrawi political prisoners.

Arrest and repression during his studies
Available information indicates that Hussein Bashir Amadour was arrested and tortured in 2008 when he was a minor, because of his participation in peaceful protests demanding the Sahrawi people’s right to self‑determination.

In 2010, he was expelled from the secondary school he attended in Tan-Tan and had to move to the outskirts of Kelmim to continue his education.

These events occurred within a long trajectory of student and political activism that he continued throughout his university studies, engaging in student, cultural and human‑rights activities.

Seeking asylum in Spain and subsequent deportation to Morocco
Under the pressure he faced, the Sahrawi student activist left Morocco on 11 January 2019 heading for the Canary Islands, arriving on the Spanish island of Lanzarote, where he applied for asylum before Spanish authorities.

According to the data in his file, he submitted the asylum request in the presence of a Spanish lawyer and a Lebanese‑Spanish translator, believing his request would be examined before any release. Instead, he was transferred to a migrant and asylum‑seeker detention centre, then moved to Las Palmas.

On 13 January 2019 he was notified that he would be handed over to Moroccan authorities, which prompted him to protest and stress that his life would be in danger if returned to Morocco. According to his testimony, he was placed in solitary confinement and undertook a 48‑hour hunger and thirst strike.

He also reported being forced to sign documents in Spanish without a translator or lawyer present, before being transferred to Madrid and then to Melilla, where Moroccan authorities took him into custody on 17 January 2019 in the city of Nador.

Interrogation and investigation after his handover
After being handed over to Moroccan authorities, Hussein Bashir Amadour, according to his statement, was subjected to interrogations in Nador, Casablanca and Marrakech.

In Nador, he initially refused to be interrogated by an officer who did not disclose his affiliation, before eventually identifying himself, according to the testimony, as belonging to the Moroccan intelligence services. The interrogation focused on his activities in Moroccan and Western Sahara universities and his contacts with human‑rights defenders.

In Casablanca, he reported spending a night at a police station and being interrogated, with emphasis on his relationship with Mohamed Abdelaziz and his contacts with human‑rights activists.

In Marrakech, the interrogation, according to the file, centered on his political and student activities and his contacts with the leadership of the Polisario Front. He refused to sign a police report that he considered did not reflect his statements, accusing the investigators of altering his testimony and adding statements he never made. He also reported being denied access to a lawyer and to contact his family during parts of the investigation.

Trial and sentencing
On 21 January 2019, Hussein Bashir Amadour appeared before the King’s public prosecutor and the investigating judge at the Marrakech Court of Appeal. The investigating judge ordered his detention in Oudaia prison and kept him in pre‑trial custody, charging him with a series of criminal offences. After a series of postponements and judicial procedures, a sentence of twelve years’ imprisonment was pronounced against him.