Spanish Court Exonerates Moroccan Man Wrongly Imprisoned for 100 Years in Rape Case

The Spanish court has overturned Ahmed Tommouhi’s third conviction, who was mistaken for a rapist and wrongly sentenced to 100 years in prison. According to the media outlet 3cat, the man of Moroccan origin was allegedly part of the two individuals who assaulted a group of six teenagers aged 14 to 15 and raped two of them in Catalonia, on the night of November 9-10, 1991.

After four years of investigation, Ahmed Tommouhi, who had just arrived in Spain from Morocco, was identified in 1995 by victims. Due to his striking physical resemblance to one of the attackers, the then 40-year-old Moroccan was sentenced to 50 years in prison for aggravated rape, violent robbery and use of weapons, as well as for complicity in other crimes. He was sentenced to a total of 100 years in prison.

A DNA analysis carried out in 1997 led the Spanish justice system to overturn his 1991 conviction. In 2023, the National Court annulled a second sentence after one of the victims admitted to having mistaken Ahmed Tommouhi for the real attacker. As compensation for the harm suffered due to this wrongful conviction, the Moroccan claimed 3.6 million euros in damages. However, the Spanish court rejected this request.