The Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, starts off with a bang and promises to tackle several annoying subjects. He has in this sense let it be known that he would submit a request for amnesty to King Mohammed VI, for the release of the detainees of the Hirak du Rif.
The detainees’ file will be “referred to the pardon commission, which will then decide on its criteria, before forwarding it to the King,” said the minister. According to him, given that at the judicial level the case is closed, the royal pardon remains the last resort.
He further claimed that he has been defending Hirak detainees since he was in opposition and will continue to do so now that he is minister.
Abdellatif Ouahbi, a lawyer by training and profession, effectively defended the Hirak detainees, prosecuted for “sedition” and “conspiracy against the State”.
In February, while campaigning for the legislative elections under the hat of the PAM, of which he is general secretary, he promised to submit the file to the appropriate circuit so that he could benefit from the royal pardon.
King Mohammed VI, it is recalled, had already pardoned detainees at Hirak at least three times. Between 2020 and 2021, at least 336 Hirak detainees have been pardoned.
Abdellatif Ouahbi will not have waited long to work on hot issues. In his sights, tax evasion, illicit enrichment, the vaccination pass, individual freedoms, amnesty for cannabis growers, and alternative penalties.
The Minister will tackle a heavy dossier, that of the penal code and penal code procedure which had been lying in Parliament for 5 years. He promises to examine all the issues that annoy and block. As a true progressive, he should attack in particular the subject of individual freedoms and the consumption of drugs.
On this specific subject, the Minister declared that he did not see the interest of imprisoning a young drug addict, but rather saw that of alternative sentences, the establishment of detoxification centers.
On the issue of individual freedoms, Ouahbi recalled his convictions in favor of the establishment of amendments to legal procedures on abortion standards and the abolition of the death penalty.
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