HIBAPRESS – Mohammed Zeriyouh
In a marathon session that lasted until the late hours of Monday night, the Criminal Appeals Chamber of the Nador Court of Appeal concluded a thorny judicial file related to a criminal network specializing in the seizure of other people's real estate. The pronouncement of the verdict was marked by the intensification of prison sentences against the main defendants, confirming the severity of the judiciary in confronting forgery crimes that affect real estate security and social peace.
The appeal judgments witnessed an upward trend; The judicial body decided to increase the prison sentence against one of the followers from eight years to twelve years in prison after his conviction on additional charges, and also increased the sentence of a second defendant to five years in prison after reclassifying the charges against him as the original perpetrator in the crime of forgery in official documents, while the rest of the sentences ranged between supporting periods of up to eight years, and reducing for other defendants to two and two and a half years. On the civil and real estate level, the court sided with the rights of the victims by issuing strict orders to destroy all forged contracts and documents subject to the dispute and delete them from the documentation records. The body also ruled to return the stolen property to its original owner legally, and to cancel all restrictions and administrative procedures that resulted from the robbery operation, declaring the invalidity of everything based on forgery. In the context of compensating for the damage, the court ruled to raise the value of the civil compensation in favor of the civil claimants to 330 thousand dirhams, to be paid by the convicts jointly among themselves. In contrast, the court upheld the initial acquittal rulings in favor of two other people after it was found that they had no connection to those attributed to them, with the order to return the financial guarantees deposited for them, thus enshrining the principle of individualizing punishment and building rulings on irrefutable evidence. This ruling comes to put an end to one of the most sensational files in the public opinion of the Eastern region, sending a strong message to all those involved in real estate forgery networks. Observers considered that the court's decision to return the property immediately and purify the real estate records of forgery impurities represents a fundamental step in enhancing confidence in the judicial system and protecting private property from fraud and organized robbery methods.
