Moroccan Lawmaker Sentenced to Prison for Debauchery and Obstruction

The verdict was handed down on Thursday. MP Yassine Radi was sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of 5,000 dirhams for setting up a place dedicated to debauchery, failure to assist a person in danger, concealment of evidence and insult towards the judicial brigade, reports the Arabic-language daily Assabah. His businessman friend was sentenced to four years in prison and compensation of 200,000 dirhams to the victim for incitement to debauchery and injuries leading to permanent disability. As for the two young women prosecuted in the same case, the criminal chamber of the Court of Appeal of Rabat sentenced one - the victim’s friend - to eight months in prison for perjury and incitement to debauchery, while the other, a cafe waitress, received four months in prison with a suspended sentence, for failure to report a crime.

The case dates back to May 2023. A young woman was pushed from the first-floor balcony of a villa belonging to the MP during a private party in Rabat. She survived with serious injuries. After the incident, she was taken to Cheikh Zaid Hospital by her friend. She was then transferred to the Ibn Sina University Hospital. The young woman fractured her spine and has been using a wheelchair since. While the defendants tried "to smother the case by promising the victim to take care of her hospital expenses" and offering her a sum of money, her mother took the matter to court. An investigation was opened, but the main defendants desperately tried to conceal the evidence of this incident. A move that did not succeed. Technical analyses on their phones betrayed them.