Fes court hands 20-year term to doctor in exploitation case

A criminal chamber at the Court of Appeal in Fes has sentenced a psychiatrist to 20 years in prison and fined him 200,000 dirhams (about $20,000) after convicting him of human trafficking and drug-related offenses.

The ruling was issued Monday evening by the criminal chamber of first instance at the Court of Appeal of Fes.

The doctor, a specialist in mental and psychological disorders and addiction treatment, was arrested in Fes in June last year after his wife filed a complaint accusing him of sexually exploiting and assaulting women in vulnerable psychological situations and recording the acts. According to the case file, she discovered the alleged recordings by chance on his mobile phone.

In addition to the human trafficking conviction, the court found him guilty of possession and use of hard drugs, specifically heroin, and facilitating drug use by others.

Six other defendants were also convicted in the same case — three who were in custody and three who were free pending trial. The court handed down varying prison terms based on individual charges, including complicity in human trafficking, facilitating drug use and consuming hard drugs.

The indictment also included charges of drug possession and use, participation in abortion, impersonation of a regulated profession, knowingly tolerating habitual and covert prostitution, and unlawfully intervening in a public function.

Among those sentenced was a photographer, who received six years in prison and a fine of 10,000 dirhams (about $1,000). A cousin of the doctor, identified as a carpenter, was sentenced to five years in prison and fined 50,000 dirhams (about $5,000). A retired nurse received a one-year prison term and a fine of 5,000 dirhams (about $500).

The court also sentenced a university professor specializing in psychology to six months in prison and fined him 5,000 dirhams. The owner of a tourist riad, a Belgian national, and an employee at the same establishment were each sentenced to one year in prison. The owner was fined 20,000 dirhams, while the employee was fined 5,000 dirhams.

The ruling can be appealed.