French Polisario lawyer at CJEU passes away

Gilles Devers, the Polisario's lawyer at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), has died. The Front expressed its sorrow over the loss in a statement on Tuesday. Devers had been a member, since 2012, of the team that defended Polisario complaints lodged with the CJEU against agricultural and fisheries agreements concluded between Morocco and the European Union.

After Chems-Eddine Hafiz, a French-Algerian, left in 2014 to prepare for his role as head of the Paris Mosque, particularly after his failed 2013 bid for the presidency of the French Council of Muslim Worship, Gilles Devers was appointed as the Front's lead lawyer. Under his leadership, the CJEU handed down rulings in favor of the Polisario, such as those on September 29, 2021, and October 4, 2024, excluding Western Sahara from the agreements between Rabat and Brussels.

In addition to his pleadings at the CJEU, the lawyer took an active part in conferences organized by the Polisario in Europe. The man also participated in campaigns run by Algeria. In November 2023, he led a group of lawyers in filing a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.