Fez Court acquits PJD leader Abdelali Hamidiine

The Fez Court of Appeal has acquitted Abdelali Hamidiine, a leader of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), in the long-running legal case involving the 1993 death of student Mohamed Ait El Jid.

The appellate criminal chamber overturned a previous lower court ruling that had sentenced Hamidiine to three years in prison. The court ruled that the public prosecution was void due to the principle of 'non bis in idem' (double jeopardy), noting that the defendant had already been tried for the same facts in 1994.

The case dates back over three decades to clashes between student factions at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Fez. While the victim's family argued that new evidence justified reopening the file in 2017, Hamidiine's defense maintained that the re-prosecution contradicted legal principles regarding final judgments. The court also declared a lack of jurisdiction regarding civil claims.