Morocco’s Anti-Corruption Hotline Struggles: Less Than 1% of Calls Report Graft

The use made of the direct line is not exclusively devoted to acts of corruption, notes the Report of the Public Prosecutor’s Office on Criminal Policy and the functioning of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, according to the newspaper Libération. This same Report points out that these calls to report cases of corruption in flagrante delicto represent only 0.32% against 9% for calls denouncing crimes of corruption and 1% for those concerning financial corruption crimes.

Other complaints and claims have taken precedence over these cases of corruption in flagrante delicto. Thus, complaints and claims related to justice represent 28%, while claims related to government sectors and public institutions constitute 12% of the total cases. The largest share is attributed to trivialities, with 50% of the cases.

As for the 63 cases of corruption in flagrante delicto, it should be noted that they range from 200 to 300,000 DH. The most represented region is Marrakech-Safi, with 15 cases, and Beni Mellal-Khénifra brings up the rear with two cases. Agents and law enforcement auxiliaries are the most concerned with 18 cases. Transport, with three cases, and the two cases at the employee level are at the bottom of the pack.

Of these 63 cases of corruption in flagrante delicto, 1 case is under preliminary investigation, 5 cases are under investigation and 6 cases are on trial. 30 others were tried at first instance, 13 on appeal and 8 were acquitted. The sentences range from one month in prison to one year, with a fine.