The Court of Cassation in Rabat has accepted an appeal in the high-profile Café La Crème case, which dates back to November 2, 2017, when two Dutch hitmen, Shadyone S. (32) and Edwin R.M. (28), were convicted for a shooting orchestrated by the notorious Dutch-Moroccan drug lord Ridouan Taghi.
During the latest session, the court decided to delay proceedings to allow the defense more time to prepare, arrange for an interpreter from Dutch to Arabic, and ensure the presence of the defendants at trial.
The attack, initially intended to target Taghi’s rival, Mustapha el F. (aka Moes “No Limits”), went tragically wrong when the assailants mistakenly shot the son of a senior Moroccan judge, seated on the café terrace at the time.
The judges will evaluate their significant cooperation during the investigation, where they revealed crucial details about their operation, including their initial target’s identity.
Their confession, which clarified that they had been hired to kill el F., was not sufficiently taken into account in their initial conviction, as their lawyer argued, and could now serve as a mitigating factor that might reduce their sentences.
This development opens the possibility for a commuted sentence, such as life imprisonment, for the two men, who have spent seven years on death row, rendering them ineligible for extradition to the Netherlands.
In January 2023, the Marrakesh Appeal Court upheld the 2019 verdict, sentencing two Dutch nationals to death for premeditated murder, attempted murder, arson, illegal weapons possession, gang formation, and various other offenses.
The remaining defendants received sentences ranging from 2 months to 15 years in prison.
The café owner and his brother faced sentences of 15 years and 8 years, respectively. The authorities also seized the café’s assets, worth millions of dirhams.
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