It occurs after the first official visit to Spain of the Qatari emir, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani

MADRID, 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Minister of Justice, Pilar Llop, signed an agreement between Spain and Qatar on Monday so that people sentenced to prison sentences can serve them in their country of origin, as the ministry announced in a statement.

“Today we have taken the first step so that, once this agreement enters into force, the procedures for the transfer to Spain of the Spaniards who are sentenced in Qatar can begin,” said Llop, who has signed this agreement at the headquarters of the Ministry of Justice together with the Qatari ambassador in Spain, Abdalla Al-Hamar.

The signing ceremony was attended by the Director General for the Maghreb and the Middle East, dependent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Alberto José Ucelay, and the Qatari diplomatic attaché Ahmed Al-Sada.

In May, the Council of Ministers authorized the signing of the agreement. The authorities of both countries have maintained contacts since May 2018 with the intention of negotiating a bilateral agreement on the transfer of sentenced persons, according to the Government.

The Executive claimed that this agreement serves to strengthen relations between the two States, “because it increases cooperation in the field of transferring people sentenced to imprisonment, favors integration and combats the social uprooting caused by internment in a country different from the original.

As a general rule, the Government tries to negotiate agreements for the transfer of prisoners with those countries in which there are Spanish prisoners so that they can be transferred if they meet the agreed circumstances and if, in addition, the detainee himself agrees to come.

The signing of the cooperation agreement coincided with the fact that this year the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, made his first official visit to Spain since he succeeded his father, Emir Hamad, in 2013 after his abdication. The former Qatari head of state visited Spanish territory in April 2011.