Mohamed Ziane, a former minister and prominent member of the Moroccan opposition, was sentenced to five years in prison and is currently serving a three-year term in another case, his attorney announced on Saturday.
The former president of the Rabat Bar Association was found guilty of “embezzlement and squandering of public funds,” his son Ali Reda Ziane, the lawyer, told AFP.
The accusations concern money that the Moroccan Liberal Party (PML), which Mohamed Ziane founded and served as its leader, was given during an election campaign in 2015.
The attorney, who intends to challenge the decision, stated, “This is a form of life sentence for an 81-year-old man while legally nothing has been proven.”
Ziane, who served as the human rights minister from 1995 to 1996, was sentenced to three years in prison on appeal and has been detained since November 2022.
The opposition leader gained notoriety in recent years for remarks attacking Moroccan authorities, especially the intelligence agencies.
He claimed that people were judging him “because of his opinions.”
The procedures stem from a complaint filed by the interior ministry on seven charges, including defamation, adultery, sexual harassment, insults to a body constituting a body, and contempt of public officials and justice.
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