Rights and Justice

Articles

• Antwerp Court Seizes $400 Million from Fugitive Drug Lord in Major Cocaine Trafficking Case
  13 April, by Sylvanus

  The Antwerp court has sentenced in absentia Omar Govers alias "Patje Haemers", one of the city’s most notorious drug-related criminals, whose accomplices are Belgian-Moroccans Othman El Ballouti or Nordin El Hajjioui, to a heavy prison sentence for importing more than 26 tons of cocaine.
  An admirer of the famous gangster Patrick Haemers, who had notably kidnapped Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants, Omar Govers takes the nickname "Patje Haemers". In 15 years, he made a name for himself (…)

• Moroccan-Canadian Woman on Trial for Assaulting Local Official in Property Dispute
  28 March, by Sylvanus

  During a brief hearing, the lawyer of the Moroccan living in Canada tried before the court of first instance of Témara for having slapped a caïd tried to justify the act and to get his client out of trouble.
  "My client is a woman who has been a victim of violence," stressed the lawyer of the MRE, Bouchaïb Essoufi, in a brief pleading on Wednesday. He accused the public authorities of "having acted according to negative behaviors". He assured that his client "was assaulted, which led to a (…)

• Undocumented Workers Sue French Waste Companies for Exploitation
  7 April, by Sylvanus

  In France, around ten undocumented workers, mostly from Morocco and Algeria, are demanding justice from the giants of the waste sector and a subcontractor who exploited them for several years, from 2019 to 2022, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
  "I worked at NTI for three years, without a contract. I sorted waste on the conveyor belt while I was pregnant. I had to work nights until the birth. Today, my daughter is three and a half years old," Hind tells RFI, coming with her little girl to the (…)

• Spanish Court Rules Algerian Migrant’s Expulsion to Morocco Unlawful
  30 March, by Prince

  The High Court of Justice of Andalusia (TSJA) has confirmed the "nullity" of the return by the Moroccan authorities of an Algerian migrant who was trying to reach Ceuta by swimming.
  This "important decision" of the TSJA, which confirms the judgment of September 4, 2024, is welcomed by the associations Coordinadora de Barrios, No Name Kitchen and the Jesuit Migrant Service, who represented the Algerian migrant.
  "Since the Citizen Security Protection Law introduced this legal concept, the (…)

• Morocco Condemns Israeli Minister’s Controversial Visit to Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound
  5 January 2023, by Ginette

  Morocco joins the list of countries that, since Tuesday, strongly condemn the visit to the esplanade of the Al Aqsa Mosque by the new Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.
  Seen as a provocation, the minister’s visit comes a few days after the UN General Assembly voted a resolution against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Morocco, which voted for this resolution, and whose king is "the president of the Al-Quds Committee, calls for the preservation of the (…)

• Spanish Court Overturns Firing of Bank Executive for Rif Protest Participation
  8 July 2023, by Prince

  Jouad Ballahsan, then director of the Chaabi Bank agency in Madrid, a subsidiary of Banque Populaire, had been fired in 2017 for having participated in a demonstration in support of the Hirak of the Rif. The justice system has just declared this dismissal null and void.
  The second chamber of the Constitutional Court unanimously decided to uphold Jouad Ballahsan’s appeal for protection, who denounced his employer, Chaabi Bank, for having fired him for taking an active part in a (…)

• Antwerp Mayor Blocks Kickboxing Champ’s Gym Opening, Citing Safety Concerns
  31 December 2022, by Sylvanus

  The mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever, opposes the opening of the new fitness and boxing gym of kickboxer champion Jamal Ben Saddik. The latter is taking the matter to court.
  Jamal Ben Saddik’s new fitness and boxing gym will not open on January 2 as announced due to the mayor’s veto, reports Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN). "The mayor opposed the opening of our Vinci Club fitness and boxing gym. Next week, the court will rule on our opposition to this unjustified measure," said the Belgian (…)

• La Redoute Worker Loses Legal Battle Over Clementine-Eating Suspension
  16 November 2019, by Sylvanus

  La Redoute employee Smaïl Bella was dismissed by the industrial tribunal last Thursday after appealing against his one-day suspension in 2017 for eating a clementine.
  "I find it outrageous, I’m in shock. The La Redoute sanction was already completely disproportionate, and now I feel like justice doesn’t exist," fumed Smaïl Bella, an order picker and CGT representative. He also lost 70% of his gross salary because of his attitude.
  His version of the facts is somewhat different. Smaïl (…)

• Spain: a Moroccan woman tried to "sell" her sister as a sex slave
  14 March 2024, by Prince

  The Spanish police have arrested four individuals who tried to turn a 21-year-old Moroccan woman into the sex slave of a 79-year-old man.
  The four people are accused of crimes of human trafficking, forgery, incitement to illegal immigration and belonging to a criminal group. They planned to make the Moroccan woman the sex slave of a 79-year-old man, the owner of a nightclub located in the metropolitan area of Granada, reports Ideal.
  The septuagenarian and the Moroccan woman’s sister had (…)

• Morocco’s Single Mothers Face Legal and Social Stigma
  14 February, by Prince

  In Morocco, single mothers continue to be victims of prejudice and discrimination. As proof, Moroccan law does not allow these women to request DNA tests to establish the paternity of their child.
  "In Morocco, everyone looks at you strangely when they know you are a single mother," says Zineb (pseudonym), a 19-year-old single mother, to the newspaper El Pais. The young woman, who gave birth a little over a month ago, lives with her baby in the shelter of the National Institute of Women’s (…)