The Moroccan judiciary has agreed to issue a judicial mandate in France to pursue the sexual scandal involving French businessman Jack Boutboul and several of his associates in Morocco, according to a statement from the lawyer representing the civil parties on Saturday.
The lawyer, Aicha Klaâ, who is also the president of the Moroccan Association for Victims’ Rights, announced during a press conference in Rabat that the Tangier court had accepted their request for a judicial representation body to be established in France, and the procedures are ongoing.
It is important to note that this committee will strive to hear Boutboul’s testimonies, who is simultaneously accused in France of committing several crimes, including “human trafficking” and “rape of a minor.”
The 76-year-old former CEO of the insurance group “ASO 2000” was released on bail under judicial supervision for medical reasons last March after ten months of detention.
Klaâ voiced her criticisms of the French judiciary, stating that “it does not have the courage to face financial pressures, and did not have the courage to prosecute him during his detention.” She added, “We do not hope for the French judiciary to bring justice to the victims.”
While Boutboul has not been prosecuted in Morocco at this stage, eight of his assistants – six Moroccans, including two women, and two French nationals – are on trial for charges of “human trafficking,” “sexual exploitation,” “incitement to debauchery,” and “non-denunciation of the attempt to commit or commission of crimes.”
Currently, four of them remain under arrest, while the rest have been released on bail. Their trial is set to resume on July 25 in front of the Criminal Chamber at the Tangier Court of Appeal.
Moreover, lawyer Abdelfattah Zahrach revealed that “the Public Prosecutor of the Tangier Court of Appeal has issued a search warrant for a suspect who fled to France.” The suspect is the former general manager of the Tangier branch of “ASO 2000” (now renamed Vilavi), a Franco-Tunisian, according to the Moroccan Association for Victims’ Rights.
