Father's Flight with Daughter Leads to Legal Consequences
A Moroccan man has been sentenced to two years and one day in prison for the crime of international child abduction, a sentence that will be converted into expulsion from Spain with a ten-year prohibition on returning to the country. This ruling follows the man's unauthorized flight from Spain with his six-year-old daughter, taking her first to Morocco and then to the United Arab Emirates. It was not until over a year later that the child was finally reunited with her mother in Vigo.
Details of the Case and Legal Proceedings
The court proceedings took place in the Criminal Section of Vigo. During the hearing, the accused, who participated via videoconference with the assistance of an English interpreter, also accepted a ten-year disqualification from exercising parental authority over his daughter, during which he will not be allowed to approach or communicate with her. Additionally, he has been ordered to pay €6,000 in damages for the moral harm caused.
The couple, who resided in Vigo, faced marital issues that led to the mother filing for divorce in 2023. In November of that year, the accused unilaterally took their daughter from Porto, boarding a flight to Marrakech without the mother's consent or any judicial order permitting such an action. Upon noticing her daughter's absence from school and being entirely out of communication with her, the mother filed a complaint. Subsequently, a Vigo court granted the divorce and awarded custody and parental authority to the mother. An international arrest warrant was also issued for the ex-husband to facilitate the return of the child, who had spent time in both Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.
It was reported that at an unspecified date, the accused handed over the child to her maternal aunt in Oujda, where she remained until a December 2024 ruling by a local court mandated her return from Morocco to Vigo.
As reported by farodevigo.es.
