The former mayor of Marrakech in prison

The criminal chamber in charge of financial crimes at the Marrakech Court of Appeal delivered its verdict this Friday, January 30. In addition to the prison sentence, the former president of the municipality and his former deputy, Younes Benslimane, will have to pay a fine of 20,000 dirhams each. The court also ordered the payment of a civil compensation of 4 million dirhams to the Moroccan state.

The case, which has shaken the ochre city since 2017, concerns the management of public contracts concluded during the preparations for the United Nations Climate Conference (COP22). The two officials were prosecuted for having awarded around 50 direct contracts, for a total amount of 280 million dirhams. The prosecution argued that the use of the emergency procedure was unjustified and aimed at circumventing the mandatory calls for tenders.

This judgment marks a major turning point after a long legal saga. In 2022, Mohamed El Arabi Belkaïd had initially been acquitted, while his deputy had only received a suspended one-year sentence. However, the Court of Cassation had overturned this decision in July 2025, considering that the reasoning of the previous judgment was insufficient, and had ordered the case to be referred to a new composition of the Court of Appeal.

The judges ultimately upheld the charges of misappropriation of public funds, abuse of influence, and undue benefits. This firm conviction comes after four years of investigations conducted by the regional brigade of the judicial police, thus sealing one of the most publicized cases of corruption in municipal management in Marrakech.