Following the discovery of people held in an agricultural farm in the El Attaouia area, the Public Prosecutor at the Marrakech Court of Appeal ordered the opening of a judicial investigation into the matter, which was entrusted to the El Kelaa des Sraghna centre. In light of this, 6 people were arrested who were found to be involved in committing criminal acts against the victims, and they were presented before the Public Prosecution today, Sunday.
An informed source said, in a statement to the Hespress electronic newspaper, that those concerned were all referred to the investigating judge at the first chamber of the Court of Appeal in Marrakech, for committing felonies.
The accusation, according to the same source, relates to human trafficking through recruitment, luring, transporting, receiving, and sheltering people suffering from a difficult situation due to illness and physical and mental deficiency, and receiving sums of money on a regular basis within the framework of an organized criminal gang, while subjecting the victims to torture, and using brutal acts for the purpose of exploitation through forced labour and servitude, which caused the victims to suffer from incurable organic and mental illness and the death of one of them, by a group of people, one of whom carried a hidden weapon.
The matter also relates, according to the same source, to assault and battery using a weapon, with premeditation, resulting in death without the intention of causing it, torture of detained persons, detention and kidnapping, and possession of a firearm without a license.
In addition to that, a misdemeanour relates to 4 detainees and consists of concealing the features of the crime for the purpose of obstructing the course of justice, and mediation in that, while the fifth detainee is charged with participating in the rest of the felonies. As for the sixth defendant, two charges were directed at her: failure to report a human trafficking felony and failure to provide assistance to persons in danger.
The Public Prosecution requested that five of the detainees be placed in pre-trial detention in the "L'Oudaya" local prison, and that judicial supervision measures be taken for the sixth defendant. As for the victims, they were subjected to protective measures through medical and psychological examinations in coordination with the services affiliated with the Ministry of Health, and they were also sheltered in the psychiatric hospital in El Kelaa des Sraghna for the purpose of monitoring their cases under the supervision of the Public Prosecution.
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