Young Frenchman imprisoned in Morocco: "no possibility" of intervening "at this stage"

Europe 1 with AFP 5:54 p.m., August 3, 2022, modified at 5:55 p.m., August 3, 2022

The French Ministry of Justice has "no possibility" of intervening "at this stage" in the case of a French student imprisoned in Morocco, Sébastien Raoult, claimed by the United States for his alleged involvement in a cybercrime case, Éric Dupond-Moretti said on Wednesday.

"It is, for the moment, Moroccan justice which has been requested by American justice, and we do not have the possibility, at this stage, to intervene", explained the Minister of Justice during a meeting. a press point on the sidelines of a trip to Marseille.

A case that concerns the Ministry of Justice, reacts Dupont-Moretti

"This is a case that concerns us since it is an extremely young French national who faces in the United States (...) very heavy prison sentences," he also said.

But "however, Moroccan justice is a sovereign and independent justice".

US authorities are calling on Morocco to extradite Sébastien Raoult, a 21-year-old Frenchman, for his alleged involvement in a cybercrime case.

The latter has been imprisoned since June 2 in the Tiflet 2 prison, near Rabat.

He would face a sentence of 116 years in prison in the United States if he were found guilty of the facts attributed to him, according to his lawyer, Me Philippe Ohayon.

Éric Dupond-Moretti however assured that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is "obviously mobilized on this issue", since it is a French national.

The appeal of the father of the young Frenchman to the government

According to the Moroccan police, Sébastien Raoult was arrested on May 31 at Rabat-Salé airport while he was the subject of a red notice issued by Interpol at the request of American justice, within the framework of a case of cyberpiracy against companies, American in particular, including Microsoft.

On Monday, Sébastien Raoult's father had called on the Minister of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti to come out of "his silence" in an interview with AFP.

He said he wished "that he arranges for (his) son to return to France, where he can be tried", assuring that he was not trying to escape justice.

New elements will be studied

Me Philippe Ohayon had also called on the minister on Sunday to intervene so that his client would not be extradited to the United States but to France.

At the same time, Me Philippe Ohayon asked the Epinal prosecution to open a preliminary investigation into the facts attributed to Sébastien Raoult who was then residing in the Vosges.

"The public prosecutor rejects our request to open a preliminary investigation on the grounds that the Vosges territory has no jurisdiction to deal with this file", the lawyer recently told AFP, but the prosecution announced, Tuesday, having received new elements which "will also be studied".