Riots in Salé: 12 minors sentenced to 3 to 4 years' imprisonment
The Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal of Rabat has handed down prison sentences against 12 minors involved in urban violence in Salé.
Urban violence in Salé: justice condemns twelve minors to sentences of up to four years
The Criminal Chamber of first instance of the Court of Appeal of Rabat handed down, on Monday evening, prison sentences of between three and four years against twelve minors, tried in detention for their participation in acts of vandalism that occurred during demonstrations attributed to Generation Z in several districts of Salé. Fr.le360.ma reports these convictions on the basis of information published by the daily newspaper Al Akhbar on Wednesday 21 October.
The accused faced serious charges: armed assembly, insult and rebellion, blocking of public thoroughfare, wilful arson, damage to public property and throwing stones at police. The General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) joined the proceedings as a civil party, citing material damage suffered by its intervention vehicles.
Three separate cases, heavy cumulative sentences
The first case concerns nine minors sentenced to a combined sentence of thirty years' imprisonment: six of them each receive three years, the other three four years. The second case involves two minors each sentenced to three years' imprisonment, accompanied by a fine of 20,000 dirhams in favour of Barid Al-Maghrib and the DGSN, in compensation for damage caused to establishments in the Chemaou district, which suffered fires and degradation. In the third case, one minor was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 dirhams in favour of the injured parties.
A signal of firmness from the court
According to Al Akhbar, the court found the seriousness of the offences committed, emphasising the violence of the confrontations and the premeditation of certain acts of destruction. These judgements are part of the judicial handling of several files concerning riots involving minors in confrontations with police and in the destruction of public and private property in different sectors of the city of Salé.
Before these convictions, the same court had granted provisional release to 21 minors out of a total of 39 people arrested in connection with the same troubles. Another minor, prosecuted in a separate case linked to arrests that occurred in the Aïn Attiq zone, falling under the prefecture of Skhirate-Témara, had also benefited from release. The initial requests for provisional release had been rejected due to the seriousness of the charges and the social impact of the disturbances.
Shops, banks and police vehicles targeted
The violence related to the Generation Z demonstrations had been marked by intrusions into commercial premises, damage to bank branches as well as the burning of police vehicles, causing serious concerns within the population of the affected districts.
Source: Google News MA