Morocco Sanctions Officer for Slapping Citizen During COVID-19 Lockdown Enforcement

In addition to opening an investigation, the Ministry of the Interior could take limited disciplinary measures against some of these law enforcement officers, including suspending their service for a few days.

According to some indiscretions, a caïd attached to the pachalik of Ain Harouda (prefecture of Mohammedia), who appeared in a video slapping citizens who had violated the provisions of the state of health emergency, was arrested and replaced by another.

Other sources, however, indicated that the video circulated on social networks "only showed part of what the caïd had done that evening to enforce the state of emergency, including taking a young woman home after nightfall, for fear that she might be assaulted, and the arrest of some young men in possession of drugs".

To avoid controversy around this type of video, the services of the Ministry of the Interior have been instructed to ensure that local authority agents are not filmed in the exercise of their duties on the ground.