Ex officio the judicial route is opened when a death occurs in prison to investigate what happened and the investigation of Malek's death in Vitoria 3. It depends on the Examining Court. The family decides to present itself in the proceedings to prevent the closure of the investigation, as they do not correspond to the information of the prison and the Government on the death. According to the official version, Malek committed suicide and was not a protocol against suicides because prison surveillance personnel had not identified any risk for it.

Before the suicide test

“We knew the situation was very complicated, at a visit he told us he had made an attempt at [suicide],” a relative told Euskadi Irratia. He has also assured that Malek recently significantly increased drug use. His family questioned that the surveillance staff did not realize Malek's risk situation and wanted to know why the protocol was not applied. “We want to know in what state Male was in two weeks before his death and in what situation he died the day.”

The Minister of Equality, Justice and Social Policy, Nerea Melgosa, has been “surprised” by the decision taken by the family to bring legal proceedings, according to Euskadi Irratia. He is willing to review the protocol against suicides and ensures that the Government is ready to give the family the help it needs, “as it has done so far”.

Lack of institutional support

In fact, the family has criticized the lack of institutional support and “institutional violence”. He explains that, among other things, they had problems obtaining the Malek passport and the death certificate, which without it is not possible to send the body to Algeria. They criticize the fact that they have not been given enough money to meet repatriation costs. On the contrary, they have thanked the Muslim community that through its collection it will be able to repatriate the body.

Mobilisation of the complaint

Salhaketa Araba held a midday rally in Plaza de Nuestra Señora de Vitoria-Gasteiz to report the deaths of two inmates in Zaballan and Martutene last week. The association has denounced the situation of prisoners in Euskal Herria, who lead prisoners to consider “suicide as a unique solution”. In the case of the last two deaths, the protocol against suicides “has not been taken into consideration”, according to Salhaketa. “This error has been very serious and irreversible. It's the tip of the iceberg of the jail problem."