Marrakech Mayor and Deputy Face Trial for Alleged Corruption in COP 22 Contracts

At the trial before the criminal chamber of the Court of Appeal of Marrakech, Mohamed Larbi Belcaid, the PJD mayor, was no longer heard. It was requested that the judicial police of Casablanca in charge of the investigation into the "misappropriation of public funds" issue a summons to all the parties concerned, including Youssef Benslimane, the mayor’s deputy. It was also decided to postpone the trial to April 30. The new parties involved in this case could make new revelations that would splash the mayor and his deputy.

Larbi Belcaid and his first deputy, Younes Benslimane, are accused of having diverted public funds and signed direct contracts worth 280 million dirhams without having the capacity to do so, in the context of the organization of the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP 22) in the ochre city in 2016. They are being prosecuted for "misappropriation of public funds entrusted to them by virtue of the nature of their function" and "exercise of a regulated function without fulfilling the necessary conditions". An additional charge is retained against Younes Benslimane, the mayor’s deputy. It is "misappropriation of public funds".

A complaint from the Moroccan Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ADMH) is at the origin of the outbreak of this case.