Rabat- A Dutch court might extradite suspected drug lord Said Chaou, subject to two Moroccan international arrest warrants, to Morocco.
The court of Breda in the southern Netherlands has decided that it “cannot maintain” a previous decision to keep Dutch-Moroccan Chaou in the Netherlands, reported Dutch newspaper Bode on Tuesday.
The Dutch court ruled against Chaou’s extradition in February 2018, with the justification that he would not receive a “fair” trial in Morocco. However, the Dutch prosecution service appealed the decision to the Dutch Supreme Court.
The decision not to extradite was based on an argument that the North African country had “tortured” Chaou’s co-defendants to pressure them into giving false testimony against Chaou.
The Dutch police arrested Chaou in June 2017 on charges of “drug trafficking, corruption, and criminal conspiracy.”
In addition to his criminal record, the Moroccan justice department suspected that Chaou had provided financial and logistical support for the Hirak Rif protests. The protests rocked Morocco’s northern Rif region in 2016 and 2017, calling out economic and social disparities.
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After several months of discussions with Dutch authorities, Chaou’s case nearly created a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. In June 2017, Morocco decided to recall its ambassador to the Hague for consultation.
Chaou faces charges in Morocco of forming a criminal conspiracy network, intentional homicide, corruption, and international drug trafficking.
