Man Awarded €100,900 After 790 Days in Detention in Morocco and France
Arrested in Khémisset on a French warrant and then transferred to France, a man has been awarded 100,900 euros in compensation after being acquitted. The Rennes Court of Appeal ruled that 790 days in detention qualified for compensation under a provision of the extradition treaty between France and Morocco.
It all began on April 23, 2020. Arrested in Morocco on a warrant issued by a Rennes judge, the man was jailed in Khémisset. Transferred to Fleury-Mérogis on December 4, then to La Santé prison in Paris, he remained in detention until June 21, 2022, before being placed under judicial supervision. On January 24, 2025, the Ille-et-Vilaine Assize Court acquitted him definitively, according to a ruling dated September 23, 2026.
He then sought compensation. His claim put moral damages at 80,000 euros and legal fees at 56,000 euros, plus 5,000 euros in court costs. But the public prosecutor argued that only 239 days should be compensated: other sentences had been enforced while he was in custody.
The treaty with Morocco changes the calculation
The man invoked Article 8 of the Franco-Moroccan extradition treaty, signed in 2008. This rule, known as the “specialty” principle, generally prohibits the enforcement after extradition of sentences for distinct earlier offenses that were not the grounds for the extradition. The judge applied this protection to the other sentences listed in the case file.
The court therefore counted the period from April 23, 2020, to June 21, 2022, as detention: 790 days, or 551 more than the 239 proposed by the public prosecutor.
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The judge also took into account prolonged separation from his family until March 2021, restrictions during the health crisis and documented overcrowding at La Santé prison. These circumstances increased the moral damages awarded.
In total, the ruling awards 50,000 euros for moral damages, 48,900 euros for legal fees related to detention and 2,000 euros for this proceeding. The costs of the proceedings are to be paid by the Treasury.
