Moroccan Officials Evicted from Luxury Villas in Harhoura Amid Property Dispute

The operation to evict the occupants of villas in Harhoura continues. In action, a team made up of local and judicial authorities, as well as gendarmes. Last week, a former senior official of the Ministry of the Interior who was very close to the late Minister Driss Basri was evicted from one of the villas following a court decision, reports Al Akhbar.

In 2013, a lawyer, a relative of Ben Barka, had asked the municipality of Harhoura to complete the expropriation procedure for these lands. At the time, he had claimed huge compensation from them. This request was met with the refusal of the elected officials, as they did not have the financial resources. In 2016, he had taken legal action after failing to find a compromise with the inhabitants who occupied the villas. Most of them are former ministers, ambassadors and governors who did not have proper ownership certificates.

The court of first instance of Témara had ruled on the case by ordering the immediate eviction of the inhabitants occupying 20 luxury villas built on an area of five hectares. A first operation had been carried out in March 2020. That of last week is the second.