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Rabat – Independent judicial organization Hassania Association of Magistrates has expressed astonishment at Maati Monjib’s refusal to cooperate with a preliminary investigation into his money laundering charges.
Hassania Association Deputy President Mohamed al-Khadrawi shared his surprise in a statement to local Arabic news outlet Hespress. He regretted the “clear attempts” of some individuals who represent themselves as “activists” to cast doubt on the independence of Morocco’s judiciary.
Commenting on Maati Monjib’s decision to go on a hunger strike, al Khadrawi described the university professor’s move as an attempt to influence public opinion by politicizing the case.
The magistrate also accused Monjib of attempting to pressure law enforcement to change the “normal courses of investigations.”
“No one should escape accountability,” said al-Khadrawi, according to the same source.
The magistrate also said that people who do not fear the truth should not “obstruct the procedures and research that are conducted under law.”
On Sunday, Monjib announced he was beginning a hunger strike to oppose the decision of the Court of First Instance in Rabat to pursue money laundering charges against him.
Monjib maintains that he is innocent.
“I am totally innocent of false and defamatory financial accusations and I have never threatened state security—things that I am accused of without any proof,” he said on Facebook.
Local media published more details on the case recently, reporting Monjib, who is also a university professor, has millions of dirhams’ worth of real estate holdings.
Some critics suspect he acquired the property by laundering money through NGO SARL Ibn Rochd Center.
Monjib ran the NGO from its founding until 2014.
Established in 1990, the NGO allegedly stopped its activities because the Court of Auditors decided to look into the organization’s finances.
Some local media reports have pointed out that Maati Monjib’s profession could not enable him to purchase all of his properties, as a university educator’s monthly salary does not exceed MAD 26,000 ($2,800).
Monjib’s real estate holdings include a house in Harhoura and apartments in Agdal and Benslimane. Maati Monjib also owns at least eight plots of land.
Fatema Monjib, his wife, owns three apartments in Benslimane and at least four plots of land.
This is not the first time Maati Monjib has featured in a public controversy.
In 2015, the Monjib declared a hunger strike after Morocco issued a travel ban against him to investigate “financial violations.”
In 2019, the university professor again went on a hunger strike when the Institute of African Studies was planning to fire him.
