HIBAPRESS
The Moroccan judiciary has adopted the "Missing Persons" program, broadcast on the second channel, as criminal evidence to convict a defendant in a case of forging an official document and using it, in a remarkable precedent that confirms the possibility of employing media as a means of proof before justice.
In this regard, the Court of Cassation issued a decision supporting the appellate ruling issued by the court of El Jadida, which sentenced the defendant to two years in prison, after the court body proved her involvement in requesting a forged inheritance deed through which she claimed her lineage to the deceased.
The case unfolded after the sister of the deceased filed a complaint accusing the defendant of impersonating an heir, supporting her complaint with a legal document proving that the deceased was infertile and did not give birth throughout her 52-year marriage, which was confirmed by the testimonies of witnesses before the court.
During the investigation, the defendant's appearance in the "Missing Persons" program was relied upon, where she appeared making an appeal to search for her real mother, which the defendant admitted during the judicial investigation, without denying her participation in the program.
Both the primary and appellate criminal courts considered this television appearance a strong circumstantial evidence among the criminal evidence, leading to the invalidation of the forged inheritance deed, and the conviction of the defendant to imprisonment.
The Court of Cassation issued its decision number 4/360, in which it rejected the appeal presented by the defendant, confirming the legitimacy of adopting the media appearance as criminal evidence to prove the crime of forgery in an official document, which is considered a precedent in Moroccan judicial jurisprudence.
