Marrakech Café Shooting Trial Begins: 16 Accused, Including Dutch Suspects

In total, 16 people are being prosecuted in this case, including two Dutch nationals, accused of being the shooters, as well as their accomplices including the manager and owner of the café, reports the Arabic-language newspaper Al Akhbar.

In October 2017, this shooting targeted the owner of the "Crème" café, during which a young student was killed and two other people were injured. Three days later, the police announced the arrest of the alleged perpetrators: two Dutch nationals, one from the Dominican Republic and the other from Suriname. Aged 24 and 29, they had arrived in Morocco a week before the attack, the DGSN press release said, adding that the two suspects were staying in two different hotels not far from the crime scene.

The investigation conducted by the Moroccan police had concluded that it was a settling of scores between drug mafias in the Netherlands, where another investigation is also open in the context of this same case.

According to the newspaper, the family of Hamza Chaib, the young medical student killed in this shooting, will demand 11 million dirhams from the State, accusing it of being responsible for the death of their son. For these damages, they have based themselves on the compensation paid by the authorities following terrorist acts, in particular at the Argana café and the Asni Hotel where the State paid 10 million to each of the victims.