Rabat – The court of the first instance of Agadir handed a two month suspended prison sentence and a fine of MAD 2,000 to Hicham Nejmi, former secretary of the health ministry, on Monday, January 8 for his involvement in the suicide attempt of a woman in a hotel in Agadir.
Initially prosecuted for using a false identity, making false allegations, and failure to assist a person in danger, the Court only prosecuted Nejmi for the charge of failure to assist a person in danger, dismissing the two other allegations. Nejmi checked-into the hotel presenting a false identity.
Nejmi was subsequently relieved of his governmental duties.
The Court also condemned, in absentia, the woman who had attempted suicide to a one month suspended prison sentence and a fine of MAD 500 for public intoxication.
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The hotel employee who took charge of booking Hicham Nejmi under a false identity received two months in prison and a fine of MAD 500.
The ruling on Nejmi’s case was based on article 431 of Morocco’s penal code. The article stipulates that whoever failed to assist a person in danger, either by not providing help or call for help is punishable by imprisonment from 3 months to 5 years and a fine from MAD 120 to 1,000, or one of the two punishments.
Facts of the case
The facts date back to August 2019 when a 35-year-old woman attempted to commit suicide by throwing herself from a room on the second floor of a hotel in Agadir.
The woman’s fall was fortunately absorbed by an oilcloth canopy.
Interrogated by the police, the woman said that she was with another woman in a neighboring room to that of Nejmi, he had booked both rooms. She added that Nejmi was present at the moment of the accident.
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She also told the police that the three of them had spent the night in a night club.
Meanwhile, Nejmi told investigators that he was in a room next to that of the victim and that he had tried to help her after she jumped out of the window.
