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Judgments and sentences regarding the acts of violence and destruction that marked the unauthorized protests were rendered within a reasonable timeframe in consideration of the penal situation of the accused, without any rush, contrary to what some claim, affirmed Hassan Farhan, a magistrate at the Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
In a statement to the press on Tuesday regarding the handling of acts of violence and destruction during the unauthorized protests in some Moroccan cities late last September, Farhan stressed that throughout the different stages of the investigation and judgment, all guarantees for a fair trial of the suspects and the accused were respected, pointing out that since their apprehension, records of interrogation were established in strict compliance with legal procedures, contrary to what some are deliberately circulating, alleging the existence of forced confessions.
Concerning the cases still before the courts, he said that most of them are due to the extensions requested by the defense of the accused to prepare their plea, noting that the sentences pronounced in some criminal cases did not exceed 15 years maximum, despite the gravity of the committed acts, for which the maximum penalty can reach 30 years.
In this regard, he was keen to specify that the court took into consideration the circumstances of the accused, particularly concerning their social situation and the absence of prior judicial records, adding that some cases are still under instruction, as part of the completion of investigation procedures.
Following the unauthorized protests and the ensuing events, several individuals were arrested, of which 3,300 were released after the identification process carried out by the competent security services, emphasizing that these events saw the participation of several minors who were handed over to their guardians.
For the persons whose involvement in serious criminal acts, harming the safety of people and property, and public security and order, was proven, a total of 2,480 individuals were referred to certain Public Prosecutor’s offices at the Kingdom’s courts (Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Tangier, Oujda, etc.), to take the appropriate legal measures, Farhan said.
The investigation conducted with the referred persons and the examination of the established records made it possible to gather sufficient evidence demonstrating that some of them committed serious criminal acts which, from a legal point of view, constitute misdemeanours and offenses punishable in accordance with the penal code and certain special laws.
He maintained that these criminal acts concern disobedience by more than two individuals and by those carrying weapons, assaulting a public official during the performance of duties with violence leading to bloodshed, incitement to commit misdemeanours and offenses and participation in an armed gathering, destruction and looting of movable property in communes with the use of violence, and acts of vandalism against public utility property.
It also involves obstructing vehicles to block traffic, material damage to the property of others, aggravated theft, arson of an unoccupied dwelling and vehicle, and possession of a weapon in circumstances that could constitute a threat to the safety of people and financial assets, he indicated.
Farhan noted that interventions of security forces were conducted in accordance with the law within their power under the legal provisions ruling public gatherings, with a view to protecting the safety of persons and their property and ensuring the safeguarding of public safety and order.
This comes given the severity of acts committed by some prosecuted individuals, such as destruction by fire of public and private property and obstruction of roads, resulting in serious injuries among law enforcement officers and causing massive material damage to public and private property.
Upon completing investigation procedures with the defendants, the public prosecutors’ offices concerned decided to prosecute 2,480 defendants, including 959 at liberty and 1,473 in detention, a number that was reduced after several defendants were released following suspended prison sentences and acquittals. Other rulings were delivered against minors who were handed over to their guardians in accordance with the provisions concerning the trial of minors, as provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The public prosecutors’ offices made the decision to close the proceedings against 48 defendants, the judicial official noted, adding that on the basis of the above, the public prosecutors’ offices had carefully examined all evidence presented against the defendants and decided to prosecute them based on sufficient evidence regarding the commission of the acts of which they were accused, in accordance with the presumption of innocence and other guarantees. Foremost among these guarantees were the notice of charges to the arrested, their right to contact a lawyer and inform their families, in addition to the presentation of the evidence against them.
Similarly, some of them were assisted by their defense counsel during their appearance before the public prosecutors, he said.
Referring to data available from the public prosecutors’ offices attached to Morocco’s courts as of October 27, 66 defendants were the subject of decisions handed down against them by the criminal chambers of first instance of the courts of appeal, with 61 persons convicted and 5 others acquitted.
Although the offenses for which these individuals were tried before the criminal courts of first instance were grave, such as arson, destruction or damage to property, the sentences handed down ranged from one year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, 10 years, to 15 years in prison, as some offenses are punishable by a maximum sentence of 30 years. This is most often explained by the court’s application of mitigating circumstances, taking into account the social status of the convicted persons.
At the first instance trial level, a total of 301 rulings were handed down against adults, 208 of whom were sentenced to prison, 66 to suspended sentences, and 27 were acquitted.
Judgments were also delivered against 162 minors involved in these acts, while 83 of them were handed over to their guardians, taking into account the best interests of these minors.
These statistics show that there were 30 acquittals in the courts of first instance, representing 11.4% of all judgments handed down by these courts. In the courts of appeal, the number of acquittals stands at 4, or 9.7% of all decisions handed down by these courts to date.
Source: map
