On appeal, sentence upheld against Sahrawi political prisoner Mohamed Boutabaa

13/05/2008 | Political Prisoners

The Moroccan Court of Appeal in El-Ayoune, Western Sahara, decided today, Tuesday, May 13, 2008, to maintain the sentence imposed by the court of first instance against the Sahrawi political prisoner Mr. Mohamed BOUTABAA (19 years). The sentence is one year in prison.

Mr. Mohamed BOUTABAA was arrested by Moroccan forces on June 16, 2007 in the district of Matallah in El-Ayoune, and incarcerated in the black prison on June 22, 2007, after being presented to the Attorney General after five days past in the Judicial Police station. Legally, Moroccan law only allows 48h of detention, which can be extended by 24 hours on the orders of the attorney general.

According to the Moroccan court, Mr. BOUTABAA is charged for throwing Molotov cocktails against a vehicle of a Moroccan soldier and caused burns to its occupant. This accusation, under Article 580 of the Moroccan Penal Code, places Mr. BOUTABAA under the threat of the death penalty. To support this, the public prosecutor cites the judicial police and investigation judge records.

Legally, only when there in case of flagrant delicto (ie, while crime is in progress), the report alone may be regarded as sufficient to base a judgment. Here, no flagrant delicto: Mr. BOUTABAA was arrested one month after the incident, based on testimonies collected by police. It is therefore necessary and mandatory, for judges and lawyers to hear witnesses, to charge as exculpatory, questioning the accused and judge at the end of a contest trial.

Instead, on 27 February of this year, Mr. Mohamed BOUTABAA was eventually tried and sentenced to one year in prison.