HIBAPRESS – Mohammed El Harouali
The Criminal Appeals Chamber specialized in money crimes at the Casablanca Court of Appeal ruled on Friday to acquit MP Hicham El Mahajri in the case related to embezzlement and squandering of public funds in El Jadida, after a long judicial process that lasted for years and attracted wide political and media attention.
This decision comes to close one of the most prominent cases that cast a shadow on El Mahajri's political career and opens the way for him to fully return to the electoral scene under the banner of the Authenticity and Modernity Party, especially in the Chichaoua constituency, where his political and organizational presence is linked. The Criminal Appeals Chamber had decided on Thursday to include the case in deliberations, setting Friday as the date for the verdict, after more than 70 sessions that the case witnessed, which is one of the most prominent files of money crimes related to the management of local affairs in El Jadida. The file included the follow-up of 32 defendants, including elected officials, parliamentarians, employees, and contractors, on charges of embezzlement and squandering of public funds, forgery of administrative documents, abuse of power, and granting privileges outside legal controls. The name of Hicham El Mahajri appeared among those being followed in this file as a contractor, along with MP Youssef Bayazid and a number of elected officials and local officials, before the appeals phase ended with his acquittal.
