Moroccan prosecutors have charged three people after a video circulated on social media showing a man tied to a tree, assaulted and filmed by a group of individuals in Sidi Kacem, the local public prosecutor’s office announced Wednesday.
The prosecutor at the Sidi Kacem Court of First Instance said a judicial investigation was opened after the footage began circulating online, with the Royal Gendarmerie’s judicial investigation unit assigned to examine the incident.
Preliminary investigations established that the video documented an incident dating back to September 11, 2026, when the victim was allegedly caught stealing agricultural crops that had not yet been harvested.
According to the prosecutor’s statement, the alleged theft had already been investigated separately, and the man shown in the video was subsequently convicted in connection with that incident.
The investigation into his treatment led to the arrest of three suspects, who were placed in police custody pending questioning.
The suspects appeared before prosecutors on October 28 and were charged with unlawfully apprehending and detaining a person without authorization from the competent authorities, intentional harm, threats, violence and distributing images of an individual with the intention of defaming or publicly humiliating him.
Prosecutors referred all three to court, ordering one to remain in custody while the other two were released on bail pending further proceedings.
The public prosecutor’s office emphasized that the earlier theft conviction did not exempt those involved in the alleged assault and unlawful detention from criminal responsibility.
In its statement, the office reaffirmed its commitment to enforcing the law against acts affecting physical safety and human dignity while respecting fair-trial guarantees and the presumption of innocence.
The case illustrates the separate criminal proceedings arising from the September incident: one concerning the agricultural theft, which has already resulted in a conviction, and another concerning the treatment of the man accused of committing it.
The three defendants have not been convicted of the charges arising from the video.
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