Morocco Halts Prisoner Transfers to Courts and Hospitals Amid COVID-19 Surge

The DGAPR has also decided to temporarily prohibit the transfer of prisoners to public hospitals, except in cases of extreme emergency, and to strengthen the prison establishments with medical teams from the Ministry of Health and by setting up specialized remote medical consultations, indicates the institution in a press release.

These two decisions were taken in light of the developments that some penitentiary establishments have experienced and the results of recent laboratory analyzes which have shown that some detainees and officials have been infected with this virus.

Despite the preventive measures taken to avoid the spread of the virus in prisons and the efforts made by the judicial authorities regarding the rationalization of pre-trial detention, as well as the reduction in the number of inmates to be brought before the courts, it has been shown that this remains insufficient to keep these establishments safe from the transmission of the disease, given the number of detainees brought before the courts, notes the DGAPR.