Rabat – Tangier Mayor Mounir Limouri has escaped Morocco for Spain with his family, according to converging media reports.
Limouri’s departure comes amid reports that authorities issued an international search warrant against him over an ongoing investigation into suspected electoral irregularities at a polling station in the city.
The reports link the warrant to the case involving marked election ballots found at Al-Quds School in Tangier’s Kasbarata area during Morocco’s September 23 legislative elections.
Converging reports claimed that information had circulated about an international search notice for Limouri, but stressed that it had not been officially confirmed whether the competent judicial authorities had issued such a warrant, nor the nature or legal basis of the reported measure.
The reports come as authorities continue investigating the circumstances surrounding the ballots found at the polling station. Several suspects have reportedly been arrested as part of the investigation, which seeks to establish what occurred and determine any potential responsibilities.
Tangier’s Court of Appeal previously announced the opening of a judicial investigation after a video circulated on social media showing a transparent ballot box containing white pilled envelopes.
The public prosecutor said the investigation aims to establish the facts and determine the appropriate legal consequences.
Meanwhile, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) described the circulation of videos and information related to the incident as an “orchestrated campaign” targeting the party and rejected what it called a “conspiracy” against it.
Authorities have not publicly confirmed the reported international search warrant against Limouri, and the investigation remains ongoing.
The incident unfolded when authorities arrested a man at the polling station after finding him carrying a bag containing election ballots. The prosecutor at Tangier’s Court of First Instance ordered an investigation to establish the circumstances of the incident and determine the appropriate legal consequences.
The incident prompted considerable commotion at Al-Quds School, where observers from political parties protested, and authorities subsequently closed the polling station. A separate video circulating online showed a transparent ballot box containing white envelopes, prompting the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Tangier Court of Appeal to open another judicial investigation.
Morocco’s National Human Rights Council (CNDH) later identified two cases in Tangier that raised concerns about electoral integrity, including one involving a person carrying ballot papers and another involving ballot papers found inside ballot boxes at two polling stations at Al-Quds School.
