LEADER of the Western Sahara independence movement Brahim Ghali denied torture and genocide charges when he appeared before a Spanish court via video link today.

He testified in the closed-door hearing from a hospital in Logrono in northern Spain where he has been being treated for Covid-19 since he entered the country under a false name in April.

Mr Ghali leads the Polisario Front, which has been engaged in a decades-long battle for independence from Morocco in what is known as “Africa’s last colony.”