The First Instance Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal in Casablanca has put an end to the Thami Bennani case, sentencing two of the male culprits today to 20 years in prison.
The long awaited verdict was delivered today, after Thami’s mother led a 16 year long fight for justice.
The court, which was crowded with local and national media, witnessed crying and screaming following the issuance of the verdict, which many were waiting and hoping for, to the dismay of the defendants’ families.
The defense of the two defendants in the case had worked during lengthy arguments since last Friday to refute the charges against them, and to affirm their innocence.
Lawyers for the two accused young men confirmed that their clients were subjected to injustice as a result of their arrest in the absence of evidence that they had committed a murder.
The Deputy General Prosecutor of the King at the Court of Appeal in Casablanca requested the maximum penalties for the defendants, who are being pursued in the case of detention in Oukacha prison.
This controversial case dates back to 2007, when the then 17-year-old Thami Bennani went out with his friends, but he did not return home, and has been missing since.
My sincere congratulations to the mother, lawyer, and family for their hard work on this. The murderers should be executed (no less), and the parents jailed for the rest of their lives. Morocco is corrupt and full of corrupt families like these criminals. Every time justice is applied on behalf of alike sobs, the sentences should be so heavy to try and help put this country on the right trails.