Birlahlou (Liberated Territories) — The Polisario Front reaffirmed that the legal proceedings it is leading at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to put an end to the illegal exploitation by the Moroccan occupier of Western Sahara's natural resources, "is based on the firm foundations" of CJEU's judgment of 2016 which decided that Western Sahara and Morocco are two separate territories.

In its statement published on Saturday following the notification by the CJEU of the hearing dates, set on 24 and 25 October, for the two appeals made by the European Council and Commission against the judgments of the justice which, at the request of the Front, voided in 2021 the new EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement and the agreement on the tariff preferences illegally including the occupied Sahrawi territory.

The Sahrawi official in charge of the judicial file Oubbi Bouchraya Bachir said in a statement that "our approach is to start from the excellent bases of the 2016's judgment, and to amplify its scope, to eradicate this dishonest game of extension agreements, made against the Sahrawi people's will."

"Our people are enduring negative effects, namely the plundering of their natural resources, and huge economic flows which enable the Moroccan occupier to finance the colonization of the territory. Moreover, the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights has validated our arguments, by affirming that there has never been any doubt about the Sahrawi people's sovereignty over their national territory," he added.

"We have noticed a similar analysis between the International Court of Justice, the African Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union," he said, adding that the full application of the international law, driven by the unity of the people, is our approach.