Ghali insists that her husband Mohamed was not even an activist, let alone a leader, of the Sahrawi movement (Nushatta Foundation)
Like most wives of those imprisoned for opposing Morocco’s decades-long occupation of Western Sahara, Ghali is required to travel vast distances to see the father of her children, in her case some 600km.
Once she arrives at Ait Melloul prison after the arduous journey, she is given only half an hour with him and is allowed to visit just once a week.
‘The children are going crazy and are all the time asking what will happen to him. They want their father to come back home’
– Ghali Bani, wife of political prisoner
As a result, Ghali has little choice but to rent a house nearby for weeks at a time, hardly affordable when she does not work and has five mouths to feed.
The chances she will see Mohamed, 51, this summer appear slim, as Morocco continues a lockdown and travel ban in response to a spike in cases of the coronavirus.
Morocco’s dangerously overcrowded prisons have not been spared the deadly virus, with a surge in cases in the last few days alone.
Ghali, 44, is now worried that it will only be a matter of time before the virus reaches Mohamed and inflicts its terrible toll.
“We are really concerned about the pandemic. Everyone is very worried,» Ghali, speaking from Laayoune, the largest city in Western Sahara, tells Middle East Eye.
«The children are going crazy and are all the time asking what will happen to him. They want their father to come back home.
“The United Nations must pressure Morocco to release my husband and other peaceful Sahrawi political prisoners without any conditions,» she adds.
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Coronavirus: Wife of jailed Sahrawi activist calls on Morocco to free political prisonershttps://t.co/AOjULrbjqU
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) April 23, 2020