CASABLANCA, 26 July 2003 — Lawyers representing three of the 52 suspected militants on trial here for a string of blasts that rocked Casablanca in May argued yesterday that their clients’ legal rights had been violated. A total of 35 defendants appeared in court, massed behind a bulletproof glass, to face charges of criminal association, undermining internal state security, sabotage, murder and intention to cause injury.
Five nearly simultaneous explosions struck Casablanca, the North African kingdom’s largest city and commercial capital, on May 16. While the attacks were aimed at foreign and Jewish targets, most of the victims were Moroccan nationals.
A total of 52 suspected members of a banned radical group, the Salafia Jihadia, are on trial over the attacks. One of the suspected militants yesterday pleaded innocent, saying he played no part in the devastating attacks last May that killed 44 people including 12 assailants. “I reject all of these accusations. I deny them,” said 23-year-old Mohamed El-Omari. “I haven’t killed anyone.”
Omari was arrested that same night outside one of the target spots, a hotel where the bodies of 12 suicide bombers were discovered. Along with Omari, a night security guard also called Abou Zoubeir, the two other men accused of being would-be suicide attackers are Rachid Jalil, a 27-year-old welder alias Abou Anas, and 22-year-old street vendor Yassine Lahnech, alias Abou Ibrahim.
The trial first opened on Monday but was immediately suspended to give the defense more time to prepare its arguments. After the new session resumed yesterday, 19 of them once again were granted a postponement after the defense argued it had still not been able to prepare its case and meet its clients. But the three accused were denied any postponement of their case.
Their lawyers argued before the criminal chamber of Casablanca’s appeals court that the three men had been subjected to irregularities, including raids on their residences which were carried out without prior approval of the family. Lawyer Mahfoud Biadillah, representing Omari, said his client was denied legal representation at a previous court appearance but the prosecution responded that Omari did not want a lawyer.
“Even if the accused refused, the court must ensure that he is represented by a lawyer,” said Biadillah. The families of the accused, banned from the courtroom, gathered outside the tribunal. They had not seen their sons since their arrest, they told AFP.
The trial is the first in a series of legal proceedings against the banned Salafia Jihadia group, which is suspected of being behind the Casablanca bombings. About 200 people, mainly suspected members of the group, have been charged under a new terrorism law.
Their cases have been divided according to whether the suspects were directly involved in the bombings or in planning other attacks elsewhere in Morocco. They will gradually be tried under a tough new anti-terrorism law in courts in Casablanca, Rabat, Kenitra and Tangiers.
The new law, adopted last month, substantially increased sentences for certain crimes, notably murder, sabotage and undermining state security. Those convicted of murder now face a possible death sentence. On July 12, a court in Casablanca trying 31 alleged Salafia Jihadia members sentenced 10 of them to death and jailed the others to terms ranging from one year to life. Among those sentenced to death was Yussef Fikri, said to have been the leader of the group that carried out the Casablanca attacks.
