Former Moroccan Minister’s 3-Year Sentence Upheld on Multiple Charges Including Adultery

A setback for the lawyer who had denounced a "political trial." While he was expecting a reduced sentence, the Rabat Court of Appeal upheld the judgment handed down at first instance. Mohamed Ziane was sentenced to 3 years in prison, accompanied by a fine of 5,000 dirhams, as well as a fine of 100,000 dirhams.

Ziane was prosecuted on eleven counts, including "insulting public officials and the judiciary," "insulting a constituted body," "defamation," "adultery" or even "sexual harassment."

The facts date back to November 2020. The former Minister of Human Rights under Hassan II had accused 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. The former bar president had named Abdelatif Hammouchi as the person responsible for "tampering" with the images.

Accusations to which the Ministry of the Interior responded in January 2021 by filing a complaint for "dissemination of false accusations and allegations, punishable by the Penal Code."