Assahafa.com
The Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) voted overwhelmingly last week to approve an extradition treaty with Morocco. Only the Party for Animals and Denk opposed the agreement, which was signed in Rabat in December 2023.
Morocco’s parliament has already ratified the treaty. The Dutch Senate (Eerste Kamer) must still vote, but the scale of last week’s majority makes rejection unlikely.
The agreement allows either country to request the extradition of suspects and convicted criminals for offenses carrying a prison sentence of at least one year in both jurisdictions. Covered offenses include murder, manslaughter, other violent crimes, and money laundering.
Justice Minister David van Weel described the treaty as stripping criminals of “a piece of the safe haven” they have relied on. The Netherlands already holds a similar agreement with the United Arab Emirates and is negotiating one with Colombia. “We are going to turn up the heat on them everywhere,” Van Weel declared.
One notable limitation remains. Morocco does not, in principle, extradite its own citizens, including dual nationals. Van Weel noted, however, that the treaty compels Morocco to prosecute such individuals domestically. “If they do not extradite, the treaty contains an obligation to hand the case over to their own public prosecution service,” he explained. “That in itself has a deterrent effect.”
VVD MP Ulysse Ellian predicted the treaty “will deliver a great deal,” pointing to high-profile targets linked to jailed drug lord Ridouan Taghi. Taghi is serving a life sentence for ordering a series of underworld killings. His sister, believed to be residing in Morocco, is among those in prosecutors’ sights.
Public prosecutor Ferry van Veghel confirmed that several criminal organizations under investigation have suspects living in Morocco. Ellian argued that even without physical extradition, the deterrent value remains strong. “They really do not want to be prosecuted in Morocco and end up in prison there,” he observed. Van Veghel agreed, cautioning against underestimating the treaty’s broader reach beyond extradition alone.
The bilateral cooperation traces back to a 2017 mistaken-identity killing in Marrakech. Two Dutch hitmen, allegedly dispatched on Taghi’s orders, shot dead the son of a Moroccan judge at the La Crème café after confusing him with their intended target. A Moroccan court sentenced both gunmen to death.
NOS Morocco correspondent Samira Jadir noted the killing produced a shock in Morocco comparable to the assassinations of lawyer Derk Wiersum in 2019 and crime journalist Peter R. de Vries in 2021 in the Netherlands.
Though diplomatic ties between Rabat and The Hague had cooled at the time, organized crime remained common ground. Morocco’s Justice Ministry played a key role in Taghi’s arrest in Dubai in 2019. Since 2021, the two capitals have restored relations, establishing police cooperation and stationing a permanent Dutch public prosecutor at the Netherlands’ embassy in Rabat.
Parliament simultaneously passed a motion requiring the Netherlands to refuse extradition where indications of politically motivated prosecution exist. Van Weel affirmed that human rights considerations are assessed before any handover proceeds.
Source: Morocco word news
