Casablanca court bars PAM MP from leaving the country

On Wednesday, the investigating judge at the Casablanca Court of Appeal ordered a travel ban against businessman and Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) MP, Abdelrahim Ben Dho, as part of an ongoing case involving his dairy company, White Gold.

Ben Dho, who also serves as PAM’s regional secretary-general in the Casablanca region, is being prosecuted alongside three other individuals, including two veterinarians. The defendants face charges related to the offering, sale, import, and export of food products deemed dangerous to human life and health, with knowledge that the products were spoiled. They are also accused of importing and possessing food intended for human consumption that had been mixed with unauthorized chemical or biological substances for preservation purposes.

Following the court’s decision, Ben Dho issued a statement announcing the temporary suspension of his membership in the Authenticity and Modernity Party «until the judicial proceedings are concluded».

He said that the facts under investigation are unrelated to his «parliamentary mandate or party affiliation», stressing that they have no connection to any political or institutional activity. Instead, he described the case as falling within a «purely professional context subject solely to judicial assessment».

Ben Dho added that his decision to suspend his party membership was taken to «protect the image of parliamentary and party work and to avoid any confusion or misinterpretation that could affect them».