Hassan Farhan, a judge at the Public Prosecution, affirmed that the rulings and decisions related to the acts of violence and destruction accompanying the unauthorized demonstrations "were issued within a reasonable timeframe that takes into account the criminal status of the accused, and there was no rush in issuing them, contrary to what some are promoting intentionally."
He emphasized in a statement to the media today, Tuesday, regarding the management of the acts of violence and destruction accompanying the unauthorized demonstrations that occurred in some Moroccan cities at the end of September, that care was taken during all stages of investigation and trial to ensure all conditions of a fair trial for the suspects and the accused, starting from the moment of their arrest, where minutes of their interrogation were completed in full respect of the procedural measures stipulated by law, contrary to what some are trying to promote intentionally about the existence of coerced confessions. Regarding the cases still pending before the courts, Mr. Farhan clarified that most of them are due to the deadlines requested by the defendants' defense to prepare their defense. He pointed out that the penalties issued in some felonies did not exceed 15 years at their maximum, despite the seriousness of some of the acts committed, which have a maximum of 30 years, which is attributed to the fact that the court took into account the circumstances of the accused, especially with regard to their social status and lack of criminal records, adding that some cases are still pending before the investigating judges as part of completing the investigation procedures. Mr. Farhan said that against the backdrop of the unauthorized demonstrations and the events that accompanied them, a group of people were arrested, and 3,300 of them were released after being vetted by the competent security services, noting that these events saw the participation of a number of minors who were handed over to their guardians. As for the people who were proven to be involved in committing criminal acts characterized by seriousness, given their impact on the safety of persons and property and on security and public order, they resulted, according to the official, in presenting 2,480 people before some public prosecutor's offices in the courts of the Kingdom (such as Rabat, Casablanca, Agadir, Tangier, Oujda…), to take the appropriate legal action against them. Mr. Farhan noted that it was revealed through the investigation with the people presented before the public prosecutor's offices, and after studying the minutes prepared on the subject, that there was sufficient evidence of the commission by a number of them of serious criminal acts that, from a legal point of view, are described as felonies and misdemeanors punishable under the Penal Code and some special laws. He explained that these crimes relate to disobedience by more than two people and carrying weapons, insulting a public official on the occasion of performing his duties and using violence against him resulting in bloodshed, inciting the commission of felonies and misdemeanors, and participating in armed gatherings, destruction and looting of movable property in groups using force. They also concern the damaging of things intended for public benefit, obstructing the movement of transporters with the aim of disrupting and obstructing traffic, causing material losses to the property of others, aggravated theft coupled with more than one aggravating circumstance, intentionally setting fire to an uninhabited building and a transporter without people, and possessing a weapon in circumstances that could pose a threat to the safety of persons and property. Mr. Farhan highlighted that the interventions of the public forces "were in accordance with the law within the framework of the powers entrusted to them under the legal texts framing public gatherings, in order to protect the safety of persons and their property and to ensure the preservation of security and public order, especially in the face of the dangerous acts committed by some of the people being prosecuted, such as setting fire to public and private property and cutting off roads, which resulted in serious injuries among the elements of the public forces and caused significant material losses to private and public property." On the other hand, Mr. Farhan noted that, after completing the investigation procedures with the suspects, the concerned public prosecutor's offices decided to prosecute a total of 2,480 defendants, including 959 who were released, while 1,473 were prosecuted while in custody, noting that this last number decreased after the release of a number of defendants based on the issuance of suspended sentences and acquittal verdicts, in addition to the issuance of verdicts against minors that ordered their handover to their guardians, in application of the rules for the trial of minors contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure. The public prosecutor's offices also decided, the official added, to preserve the procedure for 48 suspects. Mr. Farhan stressed that, from the foregoing, it is clear that the public prosecutor's offices carried out a careful and deliberate study of all the means of evidence presented against the suspects presented before them and set their prosecution based on the existence of sufficient evidence about the commission of the accused of the acts attributed to them and in full respect of the presumption of innocence and the other guarantees of a fair trial, foremost of which is informing the detainees of the charges against them and enabling them to have the right to contact a lawyer and inform their families and present the means of evidence presented against them, and their defense also attended alongside a number of them during their presentation before the public prosecutor's offices. Based on the data available to the public prosecutor's offices in the courts of the Kingdom as of October 27, according to the official, decisions have been issued against 66 defendants at the level of the chambers of the primary criminal courts of the courts of appeal, of whom 61 were convicted, while acquittal verdicts were issued against 5 people. Despite the fact that the acts for which the people are being tried at the level of the primary criminal chambers are serious and grave, such as arson and destruction and damage, the official added, the penalties issued in their regard ranged between one year, two years, three years, four years, and ten years, and fifteen years in prison, noting that some felonies have a maximum penalty of thirty years under the law, and this is often due to the fact that the court considers mitigating circumstances, taking into account the social status of the convicted. At the level of the primary courts, the courts issued 301 judgments against adults, distributed among 208 convicted with an enforceable sentence, 66 with a suspended sentence, and 27 with acquittal. They also issued judgments against 162 of the involved minors and ordered the handover of 83 of them to their guardians, taking into account their best interests. Mr. Farhan concluded that it is clear from these statistical data that the number of acquittal verdicts issued at the level of the primary courts reached 30 judgments, i.e. 11.4 percent of the total judgments issued by these courts, while the number of acquittal decisions issued at the level of the courts of appeal reached 04 decisions, i.e. 9.7 percent of the total decisions issued by these courts to date. (MAP)
