Young Man Claims Mistaken Identity After 70 Days in Jail

Is Hicham Seadi the same person as Akim Saidi? This is the question a judge at the National Court is trying to answer. A young Moroccan man, who has been imprisoned for 70 days, claims that the National Police arrested him in Dénia after mistaking him for a fugitive wanted by Belgian justice.

Hicham Seadi, arrested on September 22 in Dénia under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW), has filed an appeal against the judicial decision to keep him in provisional detention, questioning his identification through fingerprint matching.

The young Moroccan was detained at the National Police station in Dénia when he went there for immigration paperwork. An officer entered Seadi's fingerprints into the Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), triggering an alert for a European arrest warrant (issued by Belgium) against Akim Saidi.

Despite the name and surname belonging to another person, the young man was detained at the police station due to a fingerprint match. The following day, on September 23, 2023, Seadi was brought before the Central Court of Instruction No. 1 of the National Court, which ordered his provisional detention without bail.

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The young man's lawyer filed an appeal against the detention order, which was dismissed by a ruling dated November 3, and days later, he appealed again against the judicial decision maintaining the provisional detention.

In addition to the alleged error in fingerprint matching, Seadi's defense argues that the legal deadlines for executing the international arrest warrant have been exceeded without justification or extension, "violating the constitutional rights" of the imprisoned young man, who should have "a process with all guarantees."

He also demands access to police reports on fingerprint matching and to view video footage recorded in Belgium that would confirm or dismiss the identity confusion. The prolonged detention "without legal basis" of Seadi would constitute a serious lack of defense, according to his lawyer, who requests his immediate release.

The law sets precise deadlines for executing European arrest warrants, and their non-compliance "should result in the nullity of the procedure and the restoration of the fundamental rights of the detainee," argues the appeal.

Seadi believes that the continuation of his deprivation of liberty "contravenes the Spanish Constitution and the laws governing European judicial cooperation," as he understands it is the result of a judicial decision "without valid justification" following an error in police identification.

The Ministry of the Interior reported on October 17 the arrest of the young Moroccan in Dénia after issuing a press release about a fugitive from Belgian justice. The police in that country attribute several crimes to the suspect (robbery with violence, threats, and illegal possession of weapons) committed in the city of Antwerp between September 2023 and February 2024.

According to the European arrest warrant, Akim Saidi fled after being sentenced to three years and four months in prison and was part of a gang that violently robbed jewels after threatening victims, sometimes with a firearm. But is Hicham Seadi (the imprisoned young man) and Akim Saidi (the violent thief) the same person?