Released from prison in the morning, sentenced in the evening: Morocco hands three Belgian fugitives up to 9 years

Abdelilah “Black” El Messaoudi, 42, Moraad “Glamourboy” El Kasmi, 35, and Mohamed “Kikker” Benhaddou, 47, clearly did not expect to appear in court that day. On Thursday morning, the three men were taken from prison and brought before a court in Marrakech, along with several French and Dutch nationals.

According to information from the Belgian daily Het Nieuwsblad, no official information had been released about this sudden hearing. The case tried in Morocco would be separate from the convictions already handed down against the three men in Belgium and from the international alerts concerning them.

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The Moroccan prosecution reportedly concerns acts committed in the kingdom, including suspicions of laundering money from criminal activity and membership in a criminal organization. The verdict was delivered the same day: five years in prison for Abdelilah El Messaoudi, eight years for Mohamed Benhaddou and nine years for Moraad El Kasmi, the former actor arrested in Marrakech in June.

They also face decades in prison in Belgium

The speed of the proceedings surprised their Belgian lawyers. Frank Scheerlinck, counsel for one of the convicted men, points out that the defendants were taken to court in the morning, that the pleadings took place during the day and that the judgment was delivered that same evening. He particularly questions the rights of the defense and the reasoning behind decisions handed down so quickly. Those close to the three men indicate that an appeal may be considered.

Their legal situation is all the more complex because they already have lengthy sentences to serve in Belgium. “Black” El Messaoudi is serving a cumulative 34-year prison sentence for cocaine trafficking. After being detained in Turkey, he challenged his extradition to Belgium before managing to reach Morocco.

“Glamourboy” El Kasmi, for his part, was sentenced to 52 months in prison in the so-called “Makreel” case. Mohamed “Kikker” Benhaddou still has to serve a little over seven years in Belgium for drug trafficking and money laundering, notably in a case concerning his former brasserie.

Their arrest in Morocco marked a turning point. Like several dual-national criminals wanted in Europe, the three men could count on the fact that Morocco does not extradite its own nationals. But judicial cooperation between Morocco, Belgium and the Netherlands now allows European case files to be transmitted to the Moroccan authorities so that proceedings can be initiated locally.

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The Marrakech trial does not yet resolve the issue of their Belgian convictions. According to Het Nieuwsblad, a new hearing could take place in September to determine what will happen to the files transmitted by Belgium. Morocco could in particular be called upon to take over certain proceedings or examine how sentences handed down abroad should be enforced.