Drug Baron’s Light Sentence Sparks Appeal: Attempted Murder Charges Resurface

A investigating magistrate will be appointed by the Court of Cassation to examine this case, which now includes the charges of assault on a law enforcement officer, refusal to comply, and attempted murder, learned Al Akhbar from judicial sources close to the file. Afterwards, the high court will rule on the admissibility of the appeal. If it is rejected, the judgment rendered against the drug trafficker will be final. Its acceptance will, however, result in the case being referred back to the Court of Appeal. The latter had previously canceled the judgment by default and the arrest warrant issued against the accused. It had ordered him to pay the Directorate General of National Security (DGSN), which was a civil party, a symbolic dirham in damages.

Furthermore, the court’s investigations revealed that many files that had led to wanted notices against him were time-barred. However, the individual will be retried in a separate criminal case. He was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment, in order to guarantee his right to a defense and allow a thorough examination of the circumstances before any new verdict. In the meantime, he had benefited from the withdrawal of the complaint by the police officer victim of the violence, who is now retired. At first instance, the defendant had been sentenced to one year’s imprisonment for intentional violence and refusal to comply.