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The historian and activist Maati Monjib has been subjected to a travel ban due to an ongoing judicial investigation into suspicions of money laundering. In an interview published by MAP, Zouhair Lahrach, the First Deputy Prosecutor at the Rabat Court of First Instance, stated on Monday that this measure does not call into question either the political or academic activities of the person concerned, nor «his exercise of any of the rights guaranteed to him by law».
Last Thursday, Maati Monjib announced that he had begun a hunger strike after being barred from leaving the country at Rabat-Salé Airport, where he was heading to attend a conference at Sorbonne University in France. In response, Zouhair Lahrach denounced «misleading allegations regarding this matter». According to him, investigations revealed that Monjib received substantial transfers from abroad and owns several properties flagged in suspicious transaction reports under Article 18 of Law 43.05.
On this basis, the Prosecutor’s Office «ordered a preliminary investigation», after which Maati Monjib was referred to the public prosecutor. The latter then «filed a request for a judicial investigation» on suspicions of acts «constituting the crime of money laundering under Articles 574-1, 574-2, and 574-3 of the Penal Code», Lahrach explained.
These investigation procedures «are linked to international letters rogatory sent abroad», the official added, emphasizing that the results «require the presence of the individual concerned to confront the findings». The case, he said, «is still under review by the investigating judge», who ordered a travel ban and passport confiscation «in accordance with Article 142 of the Code of Criminal Procedure».
Regarding any potential connection between this measure and the royal pardon granted to Maati Monjib last year, Lahrach firmly denied any link to the ongoing legal proceedings. He clarified that the acts under investigation «constitute a crime independent of the original offense related to illicit gains and do not stem from it based on their legal foundation», contrary to what he described as «false claims circulating on the matter».
