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The Moroccan embassy in Rome announced earlier this week that it is planning to sue Moroccan journalist and activist Souad Sbai for linking the «mysterious» death of Imane Fadil to the Kingdom’s mission in Italy.
In a communiqué relayed, Tuesday, by French-language newspaper Le360, the Moroccan embassy said that the former MP made «defamatory statements» against it, when addressing poisoning allegations that followed the death of Fadil, a key witness in the «bunga bunga» case.
On Sunday, March the 17th, Sbai told Italian newspaper La Repubblica that the Moroccan embassy in Italy might have been «behind Fadil’s alleged poisoning». In fact, in her interview entitled «For the death of Imane Fadil consider the Moroccan track, they know how to use poison», Sbai said that «Fadil knew too much (…) she decided to step back and they killed her».
Sbai stressed that what happened to Fadil is similar to the stories of «many other beautiful girls, who visited [our] (Moroccan) embassy frequently. It is there where they should look for answers», argued the 58-year-old journalist who heads the Moroccan Women Association in Italy.
Sbai's flimsy allegations
Responding to allegations, the Moroccan embassy said, in the same statement that it refutes Sbai's «serious accusations».
On Tuesday, 19 days after Fadil’s death, Milan's prosecutor said that high levels of heavy metals were found in her body, including cadmium and antimony. The model’s body will undergo autopsy on Wednesday.
Contacted by Yabiladi, Tuesday, to comment on the Moroccan embassy’s decision, Sbai said that she just wants «to know the truth, and nothing but the truth».
Commenting on the Moroccan model’s death, Souad Sbai argued that «Fadil was a frequent visitor of the embassy», alleging that she might have been «poisoned with ‘Aldoun’ (lead)», referring to the practice of sorcery. To the Italian politician, Fadil’s death is linked to witchcraft and practices that, according to her, «Moroccans master and use». Despite her serious accusations, Sbai couldn’t clarify the link between sorcery and the Moroccan embassy in Rome, and gave no evidence to back her allegations.
Moreover, the journalist argued that «the Moroccan embassy did not communicate about Fadil’s death». She blamed the Kingdom’s mission in Italy for «not issuing a communiqué to announce the death of the model», who died on March the 1st. «I find it suspicious that the embassy did not talk about Fadil’s death, and kept quiet for weeks», the former lawmaker stated.
Souad Sbai vs. Moroccan embassy
«They should have spoken about her or sought the Italian authorities to ask questions about her mysterious death», she declared, adding that «Fadil was a friend of the Moroccan ambassador». But when asked about her relation with Fadil, Sbai said that she never met the model and that she knew little about her involvement in the former Prime Minister’s «bunga bunga» case.
However, it seems that it is not the first time that Sbai gets in trouble with the Moroccan embassy in Rome. The politician told Yabiladi that she already had been sued «by the Moroccan ambassador in Italy (Hassan Abouyoub)». She recalled that «the ambassador said he would sue [her] when [she] spoke about the case of a domestic worker that he mistreated». She added that she had also «sued him in the past and [she] is not scared of anyone».
For the record, Settat-native Souad Sbai was a member of People of Freedom, a center-right political party that was launched by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. In 2008, Sbai won elections and became MP in Italy, representing the Popolo della Liberta party. However, in 2014, Sbai joined Lega Nord, a right-wing regionalist political party known for its anti-immigration policies.
