Highlights: Moroccan justice will order a rogatory commission in France in the context of the sex scandal against Jacques Bouthier. The 76-year-old former French boss and several of his collaborators, accused in particular of rape and sexual assault, are still in the sights of Moroccan justice. Four of them are currently in detention while the others are on provisional release. Their trial is scheduled to resume on 25 July before the Criminal Chamber of First Instance of the Tangier Court of Appeal.

The Moroccan justice will order a rogatory commission in France in the context of the sex scandal against Jacques Bouthier and several of his collaborators in Morocco. "The court of Tangier agreed...

Jacques Bouthier case: Morocco will refer the matter to French justice

The Moroccan justice will order a rogatory commission in France in the context of the sex scandal against Jacques Bouthier and several of his collaborators in Morocco. "The court of Tangier has accepted our request" and "the procedure is underway," said Saturday, July 15, Maître Aïcha Guellaa, president of the Moroccan Association of Victims' Rights (AMDV) and lawyer for the civil parties.

A complainant speaks at a press conference organized by the Moroccan Association for Victims' Rights about the filing of a complaint against Jacques Bouthier, in Tangier on June 17, 2022 © Fadel Senna / AFP

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The 76-year-old former French boss and several of his collaborators, accused in particular of rape and sexual assault, are still in the sights of Moroccan justice. The rogatory commission requested by the Court of Tangier will aim to hear Jacques Bouthier, who is also indicted in France for, among other things, "trafficking in human beings" and "rape of a minor", explains Me Aïcha Guellaa. Jacques Bouthier, former CEO of the insurance brokerage group Assu 2000, was released on bail and placed under judicial supervision on medical grounds in March 2023, after ten months of detention.

The French justice system did not have the courage in the face of financial pressure (...), it did not have the courage to prosecute him in detention. ", deplores the lawyer, who adds "we have no hope that French justice can bring justice to the victims".

If Jacques Bouthier is not prosecuted at this stage in Morocco, eight of his collaborators – six Moroccans, including two women, and two French – are under prosecution for "human trafficking" and "sexual harassment", "incitement to debauchery" and "failure to denounce crimes attempted or consummated". Four of them are currently in detention while the others are on provisional release. Their trial is scheduled to resume on 25 July before the Criminal Chamber of First Instance of the Tangier Court of Appeal.

The Bouthier case was triggered in Morocco after complaints from former employees, filed in June 2022 in Tangier. The alleged facts occurred between 2018 and April 2022 in branches of the Assu 2000 group, led at the time by Jacques Bouthier. A total of six plaintiffs joined the proceedings as civil parties. They testified to systematic sexual harassment, threats and intimidation within the insurance broker in Tangier, in a climate of social precariousness. Rare confessions in Morocco where victims of sexual abuse are often stigmatized by society.

Jacques Bouthier case: Morocco will refer the matter to French justice

Jacques Bouthier case: Morocco will refer the matter to French justice

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