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Doha – After months of legal proceedings, Germany has officially approved the extradition of Mohamed Boudrika, former president of Raja Club Athletic Casablanca and ex-parliamentarian, to Morocco.
The German Justice Ministry granted the extradition request following the rejection of Boudrika’s appeal by the German Constitutional Court.
According to DW Arabia, the Hamburg prosecutor’s office confirmed that “what remains now is only the actual execution of the handover of the wanted person to the Moroccan authorities.”
Boudrika has been detained in a Hamburg prison since his arrest on July 16, 2024, at the city’s airport following an Interpol alert issued at the request of Moroccan authorities.
The German Constitutional Court dismissed Boudrika’s constitutional complaint on April 4, utilizing its legal prerogative to reject the appeal without providing detailed justification.
“The Constitutional Court decided on April 4, 2025, not to accept the constitutional complaint for consideration,” the Court stated in response to an inquiry from DW Arabia.
The former Raja president faces several serious charges in Morocco, including “issuing checks without financial balance, fraud and scam,” as reported by local Moroccan press.
Boudrika had previously been stripped of his parliamentary status by Morocco’s Constitutional Court.
The Hamburg Regional Court confirmed to Le360 that the extradition request had been deemed admissible, with the Federal Office of Justice approving the decision.
While the exact date of Boudrika’s transfer to Moroccan judicial authorities remains unspecified, sources indicate the extradition “should not be delayed.”
Boudrika’s case represents part of a broader pattern of corruption allegations against Moroccan parliamentarians.
Over thirty Moroccan parliamentarians currently face charges ranging from misappropriation of public funds to influence peddling, with some even accused of drug trafficking.
Despite Morocco’s 2011 constitution establishing governance mechanisms to enhance transparency and strengthen regulatory bodies, corruption continues to burden the country.
The North African country has fallen two places in Transparency International’s 2024 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), now ranking 99th out of 180 countries with a score of 37/100, indicating a continued regression in the country’s anti-corruption performance over recent years.
This decline is costing the country between 3.5 to 6% of its GDP annually — approximately MAD 50 billion ($5 billion).
At the time of his arrest, Boudrika was traveling to Hamburg to meet with then-head coach Josef Zinnbauer in hopes of convincing him to continue his tenure with Raja.
In March 2024, the Ain Sebaa correctional court had already sentenced Boudrika in absentia to a one-year suspended prison term and a fine of MAD 232,500 ($23,250) for issuing checks without sufficient funds.
