Breaking: Fez Court of Appeal Closes Abdelali Hamieddine Case, Overturns 3-Year Sentence and Dismisses Public Action Over Double Jeopardy

FES NEWS MEDIA – JUDICIAL DESK (FEZ): The Appellate Criminal Chamber at the Fez Court of Appeal brought the curtain down on Thursday, October 22, 2026, on the high-profile and long-running judicial case in which senior Justice and Development Party (PJD) figure Abdelali Hamieddine was prosecuted in connection with the 1993 events surrounding the death of leftist student Mohammed Benaissa Ait El Jid at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fez.

The appellate judicial panel ruled to overturn the previous first-instance criminal verdict issued against Abdelali Hamieddine—which had sentenced him to three years in prison along with civil damages—declaring his clearance by ruling that the public prosecution had lapsed due to prior adjudication (res judicata) on the same facts by a final judicial ruling possessing the force of res judicata.

Lack of Jurisdiction Over Civil Claims and Upholding the Constitutional Principle Against Double Jeopardy

Regarding the civil claims component of the dossier, the Appellate Criminal Chamber at the Fez Court of Appeal ruled that it lacked jurisdiction over the civil compensation claims filed by the rightful beneficiaries and family of the late student Mohammed Benaissa Ait El Jid, as a direct legal consequence of the dismissal of the public action.

This landmark appellate decision follows a marathon series of hearings and formal preliminary motions in which Abdelali Hamieddine’s defense team centered its arguments on a settled constitutional, statutory, and human rights principle—non bis in idem (double jeopardy)—which strictly prohibits prosecuting or trying any individual twice for the same acts for which they have already been adjudicated by a final judgment, while the statutory right of cassation appeal remains governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure.