Paper: This is life for the youngest Spanish inmate abroad: 25 years in prison in Oman and five prayers a day
The life of Fàtima Ofkir and her mother, Rosario Reyes, changed radically at the beginning of August 2017. The girl, who was 18 years old at the time, was arrested in a hotel in Oman with about seven kilos of morphine and, a few months later, sentenced to 25 years in prison for drug trafficking.
She has been serving a sentence for three years in Muscat prison, in this sultanate, where she is forced to pray five times a day and wear a burqa.
He talks to his mother for just a few minutes once every 15 days in
She asks for your help to get her out of the "hell" in which she lives. Rosario assures that her daughter suffers from "a deep depression" and out of fear that she will make a "more drastic" decision that affects her integrity, she has already done everything possible. for getting her out of prison.
He even sent a letter to King Felipe VI in which he explained the situation of Fàtima, although they replied that they were declining any action to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In her "blind" search for help, Rosario came across the office of lawyer Daniel Vosseler and together they have opened a window of hope.
On December 16, the congressional foreign affairs committee will debate urging the ministry to activate a collaboration agreement with Oman so that any Spanish prisoner in this country, such as Fàtima, can serve their sentence in Spain.
"If there is political will in three months, it can be here," explains Vosseler who adds that it is a specific agreement as the State has with other countries of reciprocity for the enforcement of sentences, not a specific extradition treaty for Fàtima. Actions initiated before Congress, the mother and the law firm have also made the request that the dam be brought to Spain before the European Commission.
"It is a humanitarian issue, of extreme necessity. The foreign services must promote mechanisms with speed, not a treaty in five years" explains Daniel Vosseler who details that the 25-year prison sentence in Fàtima "does not correspond to our Penal Code, it is a flagrant disproportion that is not understood. "
That is why he appealed to the "principle of reciprocity between countries" to carry out this agreement quickly for a "question of universal Justice." Fatima and her family lived in Hospitalet.
The girl played softball, participated in numerous associations and entities, was the president of the Consell Nacional de la Infància y la Adolescencia de Catalunya and was preparing to be a children's teacher.
The separation of her parents caused her mother to fall into a depression and financial problems began, so, at the age of 18, Fàtima began to associate with bad companies that led her to the Sultanate of Oman.
There they proposed to traffic drugs and although she gave up and said she did not want to know anything, the police entered the hotel where she was staying and detained her with seven kilos of morphine.
It was the beginning of his "hell".
Despite repentance and collaborating with the authorities, she was sentenced to 25 years in prison. According to her lawyers, the sentence is not final although they have not yet been able to access the case and they regret the "lack of procedural guarantees" that exists in the sultanate.
However, the battle now is to get him to serve his sentence in Spain.
"Fàtima is alone, abandoned" with the only visit from the consul who is 100 kilometers from a prison that has no doctors, says her lawyer who adds: "I spoke with her and she told me 'get me out of here, I'm wrong, I'll comply the penalty in Spain. 'He is serving a life sentence for a small mistake. "The lawyer considers that the same crime in the State is not punishable by so many years in prison.
In addition to the Congress and the European Union, he wants to send a letter to Pope Francis since he considers that he has good relations with Oman.
"It is a country that now wants to open up to the West," says Vosseler, who laments the "disproportionate condemnation" suffered by Fàtima.
It also warns of the existence of international networks that attract young and vulnerable people "with the capacity to manipulate them" for this type of illegal trafficking. Rosario explains that her family situation prevents her from visiting Fàtima in prison and that she can only speak with her few minutes every 15 days.
"She is alone there and they are forced to assume the culture of that country that violates the freedom of women," explains the mother, referring to the prayers and the burqa, and appeals to the Government to "do its job" to agree on an agreement with Oman as soon as possible.
"Neither my daughter nor any woman should be obliged to assume something that is not part of her freedom," says Rosario.
Now the future of Fàtima passes through an international pact that guarantees their rights such as returning to their country.
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