Pedophile mistakenly pardoned by Morocco to serve out 30-year-term in Spain

A 63-year-old convicted pedophile who was mistakenly pardoned by King Mohammed VI of Morocco and recaptured on an international arrest warrant in August will serve out the rest of his jail sentence in Spain, the High Court has ruled. Morocco had asked that Daniel Galván Viña -- convicted two years ago in Morocco for sexually assaulting 11 children aged between two and 14 and sentenced to 30 years – be extradited to serve out his sentence.

But the court ruling laid out that under the terms of the extradition treaty between the two countries, Spain does not extradite nationals to Morocco. Instead, a Compliance of Foreign Sentence order was imposed on Galván, who asked to serve out his time in Spain after he was rearrested in Murcia.

Galván was freed by the Moroccan authorities after a mix-up between the Spanish Embassy and penitentiary officials in the North African country. The embassy had submitted two lists for consideration by King Mohammed VI, one containing 30 names of Spanish inmates who had asked to be transferred to Spain, and another with 18 petitions for a royal pardon. The two lists were combined and presented to the monarch for pardons.

Galván was placed in preventive detention on August 6 due to a perceived flight risk and the seriousness of his crimes. On September 26 at a High Court hearing, he invoked his right not be extradited to Morocco. Galván was born in Iraq and has Spanish nationality through marriage, although he is divorced. Morocco issued a detention order for Galván in the wake of the pardon, which “met all the formal requirements,” and was handed to Spain “with the aim of ensuring the completion of the sentence imposed,” said High Court Judge Fernando Andreu.

Galván has 27 years and four months remaining on his jail term.