FILE - In this April 26, 2018 file photo, Spanish journalist Helena Maleno reacts after receiving the ''Guernica Award for the Peace and Reconciliation'' in Guernica, Spain. Maleno, who is also a pro-migrant activist, said on Monday, March 11, 2019, that Morocco has dropped a case against her that sought human trafficking charges. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos, File)
March 11, 2019 - 3:29 AM
MADRID - Spanish activist Helena Maleno says Moroccan authorities have dropped a case against her that sought human trafficking charges for her calls alerting maritime rescue services to the presence of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
In 2012, Spanish police investigated what they alleged were possible links between Maleno and human trafficking gangs. A Spanish court later dropped the case. Moroccan justice carried out a parallel investigation until it was closed on Monday.
Maleno, who lives in Morocco, has made it her cause to inform Spanish and Moroccan rescuers when migrants set out in flimsy boats to make the perilous crossing from African to European shores.
Maleno said from Tangier the "fact that this case was dropped sets an example for us to continue our work."
News from © The Associated Press, 2019