The Criminal Chamber of the Casablanca Court of Appeals on Tuesday sentenced to death the main suspect A.S. who was convicted of murdering a young engineering student, Badr Bouljoihel, in July 2023 next to a fast food restaurant in Ain Diab, Casablanca. The court sentenced several others convicted of being accomplices to varying terms of imprisonment including life.
The court sentenced the second principal perpetrator of the hit-and-run to life imprisonment. A third accomplice was also sentenced to 20 years in jail, while another man received a 25-year prison term.
The principal perpetrator’s brother-in-law was also sentenced to five years in prison for aiding in his escape by taking him to Laayoune after Badr was killed in Casablanca.
The court ordered compensation to be paid to the victim’s family and those impacted by the incident. It specified 500,000 MAD to be paid to each of the victim’s parents, 100,000 MAD to each of his sisters, and 30,000 MAD to other parties claiming civil damages.
The bereaved family of Badr expressed their relief after the judgment. His mother, in particular, was extremely distraught and fought to hold back tears as she spoke with reporters outside the courthouse.
Despite the “great agony” of losing her son, she said the verdict provided closure and certainty that justice was being done for Badr.
The murder occurred on the night of July 30, 2023, when Badr and his pals became embroiled in a conflict with five others in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant in Casablanca. One of the suspects hit Badr during the altercation, knocking him out on the ground. Badr’s friends attempted to assist him, but the perpetrators deliberately drove over him with their automobile, killing Badr and injuring his companions.
Badr’s brutal murder was recorded on camera and shared online, causing outrage throughout Morocco.
The criminal record of Weld Fchouch (a darija term for a spoiled brat in reference to the self-entitled individual) revealed he had previously been charged with two counts of manslaughter in 2018, in another incident involving an automobile.
In 2019, the Casablanca Court of First Instance found Weld Fchouch guilty of vehicle loss of control and poor driving maneuvers and fined him 8,100 MAD in total.
Though completely legal in Morocco, no instance of capital punishment was carried out in the country since the nineties.