The Court of Appeal in Casablanca decided, on Thursday, to postpone the examination of the Mobdii case in order to summon several absent defendants as well as representatives of the Moroccan Association for the Protection of Public Property (AMPBP). The latter also missed the hearing for the second time.
Legal Proceedings
Mohammed Mobdii, a former MP and strongman of the Popular Movement (MP), is being prosecuted for embezzlement of public funds, abuse of power, corruption, and forgery of administrative, commercial, and official documents. The Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal in Casablanca had set the beginning of the trial for June 27 after the end of the investigation, but the trial had been postponed for the same reasons.
Arrest and Referral to Justice
The former Minister of Public Service and former President of the Commune Council of Fkih Ben Salah was arrested on April 26, 2023, at his home in Rabat following a complaint for misappropriation and squandering of public funds filed by the AMPBP in February 2020 with the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal in Casablanca.This complaint was based on reports from the Court of Auditors and the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of the Interior on the management dysfunctions and lack of good governance experienced in the Fkih Ben Salah district. After lengthy interrogation by elements of the National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ), the former MP and 13 other defendants were brought before the prosecutor, before the judge decided to open a “preliminary” judicial investigation.
Imprisonment and Judicial Supervision
The judge then decided to place Mobdii and seven of his co-defendants in custody, while five others are being prosecuted at liberty, but under judicial supervision with a ban on leaving the national territory.