Tangier Mayor’s detailed interrogation postponed to November 3 in election ballot papers case

An investigating judge at the Tangier Court of Appeal has postponed the detailed interrogation of Mounir Lemouri, mayor of Tangier and a provincial official of the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), until early November in a case involving election ballot papers, Hespress learned from informed sources.

Lemouri appeared at the court on Tuesday, but the judge did not question him after granting a postponement requested by his defense. A new date was set for November 3, the sources said.

The defense cited Lemouri’s health condition, arguing that it prevented him from adequately responding to the investigating judge’s questions in a case that has drawn widespread public attention.

Hespress sources said Lemouri’s health had deteriorated in recent days while he remained in pretrial detention. They also pointed to his history of high blood pressure.

The investigating judge has charged Lemouri with offenses including disrupting voting procedures to alter or attempt to alter an election result, participating in the forgery of an official document, and bribery through an offer, promise or gift intended to secure an act.

According to Hespress sources, the charges were brought under Article 58 of Organic Law No. 27.11 on the House of Representatives, alongside Articles 352, 353, 251 and 129 of Morocco’s Criminal Code. Under Articles 152 and 153 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the judge ordered Lemouri’s placement in pretrial detention.

The Tangier mayor was placed in pretrial detention on October 2, following approximately 72 hours in police custody. He had been arrested at Tangier Ibn Battuta Airport shortly after arriving from the Spanish city of Málaga, pursuant to a nationwide wanted notice linked to the case.

The investigation dates back to election day on September 23, when a person was found carrying a bag containing ballot papers associated with a polling station at Al Quds School in Tangier’s Casabarata neighborhood. Investigators subsequently examined the origin of the papers and the circumstances under which they were removed from and returned to the polling station.

The inquiry led investigators to a hotel establishment in Tangier, where available evidence placed Lemouri alongside several other individuals. Technical examinations also recovered deleted surveillance footage and analyzed mobile phones, communications and seized items.

According to information from the investigation, the recovered footage and technical analyses linked two bags seen at the hotel establishment to the bags seized in connection with the case. Investigators also identified communications between Lemouri and other suspects before and during election day.

The allegations remain subject to judicial proceedings.

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