Marengo suspect Achraf B. may be extradited to Morocco, says the Lelystad court. The 29-year-old man is suspected in Morocco of involvement in a shooting in Marrakech in 2017. The court has decided to extradite B. because there is no ‘political persecution’ in Morocco. According to the judges, it is also not certain that B.’s rights will be ‘flagrantly’ violated. It is up to the Minister of Justice and Security to decide whether B. will actually be extradited.
On the terrace of café la Crème in Marrakech, the son of a Moroccan judge was shot dead by two Dutchmen in November 2017. This man was not the intended target. The perpetrators were sentenced to death in Morocco. B. would have been involved in this mistaken murder and that is why Morocco wants to prosecute him.
Furthermore, the judges Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius (Justice and Security, VVD) to allow extradition only if the death penalty is not imposed. One of the grounds for refusal that applies to an extradition request is, for example, whether the offense charged is punishable by death. In Morocco, a convicted person can receive the death penalty, even though it has not been carried out since 1993.
In the summer of 2022, the Public Prosecution Service demanded a life sentence in the Marengo case against Ridouan Taghi and four accomplices. B. is one of those accomplices. He is said to have been a member of a criminal organization and is suspected of involvement in several liquidations, including the murder of crime blogger Martin Kok in 2016.
The Netherlands does not yet have an extradition treaty with Morocco. The minister registered on 6 February a letter to the House of Representatives that the Netherlands and Morocco will negotiate an extradition treaty. The purpose of this treaty is to combat organized crime. Cooperation with Morocco enables the Netherlands to “undermine and roll up criminal power structures,” said the minister.