HIBAPRESS – A. Mahyawi
The Court of First Instance in Kenitra issued its rulings today, Friday, in a case that attracted wide attention locally, concerning a video clip that was circulated during the floods that the region witnessed, including accusations and phrases considered offensive against the head of the Al-Mekren commune, Mansour Qreita.
The judicial body sentenced the person who appeared in the circulated video to one year in prison, after being prosecuted on charges of insult, defamation, and slander, following statements in which he directly accused the head of the commune inside a space for sheltering those affected by the floods.
The court also sentenced a second person, who owns a gas station, to five months in prison, after being prosecuted in the same case on charges of incitement, while it sentenced a former communal councilor to five months in suspended imprisonment, after being included in the same case.
The events of this case date back to the period in which the Kenitra region witnessed significant rainfall that caused floods in a number of areas, where a video clip documented a verbal altercation inside a shelter for those affected, before the head of the commune filed a complaint with the competent authorities, considering what was mentioned in the video as defamation and accusations that affected his reputation.
The Royal Gendarmerie elements initiated an investigation into the case under the supervision of the Public Prosecution, where those concerned were heard before being referred to the judiciary, which issued its initial rulings in this case.
These rulings remain subject to appeal in accordance with the applicable legal procedures, pending what the next stage of developments in the case will reveal.
