French Lawyer Alleges Rape at Casablanca Party, Vows to Seek Justice

The alleged victim claims she was drugged and then raped during this party. "Everything was going well, I was sitting on a couch with a friend with whom I had a long conversation. A short time before, I had danced with Bilal. And then, nothing. My memories stop there," she told investigators in Paris on November 7, when she filed her complaint. Her fiancé later tells her that she "had been super tactile with other men [...] that I had sat on the laps of several, including his cousin. Whereas I’m not at all tactile." "I am determined to fight. I will go all the way," the French lawyer confided to the newspaper Le Figaro, Monday in Paris.

That same day, the Casablanca Court of Appeal rejected the requests for release of Kamil Bennis, made by his lawyers. "We welcome this decision of the judge, commensurate with the seriousness of the acts attributed to the accused, but also all the work done by the Moroccan justice system at this stage," rejoices Me Ghizlane Mamouni, one of the lawyers for the alleged victim, hoping that justice will be done for her client. For his part, the main accused, Kamil Bennis, detained in Casablanca, swears that the sexual relationship was "consensual."

An act that he would have immediately regretted, the lawyer being the fiancée of his cousin, Bilal, who was also present at this party. "It lasted about 10 minutes. Afterwards, I went down to the living room and I felt regret about what had happened," he told investigators. M’hammed Alj and Saad Slaoui, co-defendants in this case, have also been in detention since November 21, when the 27-year-old woman filed a complaint with the competent prosecutor’s office in Casablanca.

Witnesses are expected to be heard next week to confirm the plaintiff’s allegations. "She was unable to find even a single person to confirm her allegations, knowing that the party brought together about a hundred guests," the defense asserts. Meanwhile, Kamil Bennis and his co-defendants remain in detention. "New evidence has since been added to the file," assures Me Ghizlane Mamouni, noting that "GHB or any other substance can be detected by other means than the toxicological analysis to be carried out within twelve hours of a rape."