Marrakech Café Shooting Case Reopened, Hearing Postponed to January

The Criminal Chamber of Appeal of Casablanca, in courtroom number 9, decided to postpone the examination of this case to January 30, 2024. The court made this decision in order to allow the preparation of the defense, the examination of the details of the case, as well as the summoning of the accused detained in the local prison of the city of Salé.

On January 17, 2023, the Criminal Chamber of Appeal of the Marrakech Court of Appeal had confirmed the first instance judgment rendered against the accused prosecuted in the context of the "La Crème" café shooting case, which occurred on November 2, 2017. To recall, this shooting had resulted in the death of a young medical student, as well as the injury of his friend and the owner of the café.

The appeal chamber of the same court had confirmed the first instance judgment. Two Dutch nationals originally from the Dominican Republic and Suriname had been sentenced to death. M.F., the owner of the café, had been sentenced to 15 years in prison. His brother "Mohamed F." had received 8 years in prison. "J.T.", the brother of the alleged mastermind of the crime, had been sentenced to 10 years in prison. The court had also handed down suspended sentences against three other people.

For its part, the customs administration had seized all the property belonging to the owner of the "La Crème" café, estimated at several tens of millions of dirhams. 20 individuals were prosecuted in this case.