OPPONENT The Moroccan Committee for the Support of Prisoners of Conscience says that the appeal trial of lawyer Ziane “was held in a single hearing , without giving [him] the opportunity to defend himself”
Mohammed Ziane in Casablanca in 2017. — Abdeljalil Bounhar/AP
Mohammed Ziane considers himself “ judged; to because of his opinions. The Moroccan opponent, ex-batonnier of Rabat and Minister of Human Rights between 1995 and 1996, was arrested and incarcerated Monday evening after having been condemned on appeal to three years in prison.
“He was transferred to El Arjat prison. It’s not even been notified legally (of his conviction) and he never appeared,” Ali Reda Ziane, himself a lawyer and defending his father. “He was condemned (by the Court of Appeal of Rabat) for all possible and imaginable charges.” The prosecution then confirmed; that “the services of the competent judicial police, and on the instructions of the Public Ministry, have arrested the interested party and imprisoned him. in execution of the provisions of the appeal decision.
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A lawyer in favor of the “Hirak” movement
Shortly before his arrest, he claimed “n”never received a summons to appear.” His son denounced “a gear against [his] father since he took a stand in favor of the “Hirak” of the Rif” this Berber mountainous region in 2016-2017. Famous lawyer, Mohammed Ziane, 79, also defended Taoufik Bouachrine, an imprisoned opposition press boss. since 2018 after being awarded 15 years in prison for “sexual assault” against eight women, charges he has always denied, denouncing “a political trial”.
The lawyer was prosecuted on the basis of a complaint from the Ministry of the Interior, for eleven counts, including those of “insult against a constituted body” “Defamation”, “adult” or “sexual harassment”. He had been condemned on February 23 at three years in prison and at a fine of 5,000 dirhams (470 euros) but had been left free.
Criticism against the intelligence services
The Committee Moroccan support for prisoners of conscience said “extremely shocked”. “His appeal was held in a single hearing, without giving batonnier Ziane an opportunity to defend himself,” this collective of human rights defenders. “He was arrested by more than twenty plainclothes police officers who burst into his office (…), without presenting the slightest judicial decision, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the code of criminal procedure, of the Constitution and international conventions.
Founder of the Moroccan Liberal Party (PML) and high-ranking official of the state, Mohammed Ziane made himself known by d” statements critical to; against the power, in particular the Moroccan intelligence services. The former batonnier accused in November 2020 the security services of having “rigged” a video to present in a compromising way an interview between him and a married client in a hotel room. At the time, he accused the head of the police and internal intelligence, Abdelatif Hammouchi, to be responsible for the “tricking” pictures.