British Tourist Jailed in Morocco for Alleged Counterfeit Scheme Sparks Family’s Plea for Help

Arrived in Marrakech in November 2022 with a friend to spend a vacation, Oliver Andrews finds himself in a complicated situation. The Moroccan police arrested him at the hotel where he was staying. He is accused of having used counterfeit money to pay for a drink. Subsequently, the nearly thirty-year-old and his friend were charged with counterfeiting and forming an organized criminal group and were incarcerated, his lawyer said.

Since then, Oliver’s family has expressed concerns about the conditions in which he is being held. In 2021, doctors had diagnosed him with a heart problem and he has to take medication daily. According to his family, the detainee did not have access to his medication until his lawyer organized a visit on December 16. "He was in a very deteriorated mental and physical state," because without his medication "his blood circulation was slowing down," his family told the BBC.

"When we visited him in prison, he was in a very deteriorated mental and physical state and had started having suicidal thoughts because he could not communicate with anyone due to the language barrier," writes Alanna Cornick, Andrew’s partner in a Facebook post, alarmed by the state in which he lives, which "is simply heartbreaking on a daily basis." According to her, her husband is being held in "cramped spaces" with 32 people in a 12-man cell, without bedding or fresh air.

Faced with this unfortunate situation, Alanna is calling on the British embassy for help. "We just want the embassy to do its job and go visit him, and make sure he’s doing well," she said.