Identity Theft in Brussels: Innocent Moroccan Man Wrongly Convicted in Drug Case

It took Zouhir El M. being arrested for a completely different case for his lawyers Sokol Vljahen and Jocelyn De Roeck to sharpen their curiosity until they discovered that he was not a repeat offender, the man convicted twice in a row for drug trafficking, reports La Dernière Heure.

By consulting their client’s prison record during a visit to the prison, the two lawyers realized that it bore the mention of two convictions for drugs. A first, of two years in prison, handed down on May 17, 2019, and the second, of six months, on November 19, 2019. A strange recidivism for these lawyers and the Moroccan. "Recidivism? Impossible. I have never been convicted. I don’t understand. I have never set foot in a criminal court," defends Zouhir, placed under an arrest warrant for drug trafficking and possession on November 19, 2019.

For the two lawyers, there is no doubt that it is a mistake. They then try to confirm their thesis. On December 13, they had asked the 44th chamber to proceed with the verification. The fingerprinting of Zouhir later revealed that they were not those of the man convicted on May 17, 2019 to two years in prison. In short, an individual had been convicted under the Moroccan’s name in order to escape the execution of his sentence.

"The two-year prison sentence will be erased from our client’s criminal record," assures Me Jocelyn De Roeck. His client will be able to hope for the clemency granted to first-time offenders during the upcoming drug trial. For now, the identity of the individual who is to serve two years in prison remains unknown to the judicial authorities.