Trial Begins for Israelis Accused in Moroccan Citizenship Trafficking Scheme

The two representatives could not agree on this issue of paramount importance for the accused, reports Hespress. Responding to the accusations of his counterpart, the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Hakim Ouardi, argued that these accused were questioned in the presence of an interpreter.

As for the defense lawyers, they also criticized the searches carried out by the judicial police elements in the absence of an interpreter. "My client does not understand either Arabic or French and was not informed of the reasons for the search of his home, which constitutes a violation of the law," said one of these lawyers.

Justifying the absence of any fraud, Abdelouahed El Youssoufi, lawyer for one of the accused, clearly stated that his client was a Moroccan Jew, holder of a Moroccan passport and national identity card and was moreover born of a Moroccan Jewish mother.

To respond to the defense lawyers, the representative of the Public Prosecutor’s Office recalled that the persons who did not speak Arabic were heard during the investigation phase in the presence of a Hebrew judge and a specialized interpreter.

Relying on Article 108 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, Mbarek El Meskini, from the defense, returned to the scope of the measure to intercept calls. According to him, this already constitutes a point of disagreement between the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the defense lawyers.

The counsel, however, mentioned that "the cases in which instructions were given to the judicial police to intercept calls do not meet the requirements of that article".

To recall, 28 people involved in this case of a criminal network adopted a "unique method", according to the police. It consisted of "falsifying birth certificates" for Israelis as if they were born in Morocco in order to obtain a Moroccan passport for them, legally.