The Court of Cassation validated, Wednesday evening, the sentence confirmed on appeal of the death sentence of the pedophile found guilty of kidnapping, forcible confinement, indecent assault and the murder of Adnane Bouchouf (11 years old) in Tangier. Defense lawyers have appealed on points of law, following the city’s Court of Appeal had supported the verdict handed down in January 2021 at first instance. For their part, the parents of the victim had called on the supreme court to maintain the death penalty.
Cited by various media sources, the father of the deceased child welcomed the judgment of the Court of Cassation, noting in his statements that the family was happy with this decision. He also indicated that he was in favor of the execution of the sentence, stressing that the relatives of little Adnane were trying as best they might to find a normal life, nearly a year and a half following the tragedy.
and apple, in August 2021, justice had confirmed the initial decision of the death penalty once morest the main accused, whom the police arrested on September 11, 2020 in Tangier. Three other people, the roommates who lived with the killer in the same apartment where the murder occurred, had been sentenced to four months in prison each for failing to report the crime.
A debate on the death penalty in cases of pedophilia and murder
The day following the discovery of the lifeless body of little Adnane, calls for the effectiveness of the death penalty for sexual predators were reiterated. With the media coverage of the affair that shook the country at the end of the summer of 2020, some NGOs defending the rights of children have also called for the execution of child criminals, in particular when these crimes are coupled with the murder of the minor victim.
The association Touche pas à mes enfants is one of them. In the context of the Adnane Bouchouf case, the president of the NGO, Najia Adib, previously called for a strict application of the provisions already provided for by the Penal Code. “We do not demand less than an exemplary capital punishment, so that any pedophile who wants to take action imagines that he will be the next to be executed,” she declared.
Member of the association’s office and national president of the Citizen’s Alliance for Human Rights (ACDH), Abderrahmane Bendiab told Yabiladi that the issue has sparked debate even within human rights organizations. “We adhere to and adopt all universal values, as well as reforms of international law. Our members therefore plead for the abolition of the death penalty, of course, but call for its retention in cases of rape and murder of minors, following a majority vote, ”he explained.
For their part, abolitionist associative actors, in particular within the Moroccan Coalition once morest the Death Penalty (CMCPM), considered that the Law of Talion had historically proven its limits in establishing the essence of justice.
