France sentences a pro-Polisario mayor to two years in prison

On Wednesday, September 11, the Versailles Court of Appeal in France sentenced the former mayor of Mantes-la-Jolie, El-Haimer Khattari, to two years in prison, with one year being unsuspended. Le Parisien reports that the prison sentence is to be served at home with an electronic bracelet. Additionally, he received a five-year ineligibility sentence.

Khattari was indicted in 2021 for «witness tampering», following the emergence of a racketeering scandal involving shopkeepers at the Val-Fourré market, one of the largest in the Île-de-France region, according to the same source.

El-Haimer Khattari was elected acting mayor of Mantes-la-Jolie on January 9, 2021. In September 2022, he welcomed Sultana Khaya to the town hall. Members of the Moroccan community protested this gesture at a sit-in outside the town hall on September 25.

The former mayor's father, a long-time Polisario supporter, has lived in France since the 1970s and is known for his generous donations. He is often received by Brahim Ghali during his visits to the Tindouf camps.