The Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office has instructed the public prosecutor’s offices in the Kingdom’s various courts to deal seriously and promptly with complaints and denunciations concerning « the misappropriation by certain individuals of consumer products and provisions provided on a voluntary basis as part of solidarity campaigns with the victims of the tragic earthquake that struck certain provinces and regions of the Kingdom ».
In addition, added the Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office in a statement, « the judicial police have been instructed to carry out in-depth investigations » into these denunciations and to « initiate the necessary legal proceedings against any person suspected of involvement, participation or complicity in these acts ».
The Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office has also given instructions to open investigations and determine the legal responsibilities of any person presumed to be involved in the propagation of false news aimed at sowing fear among disaster victims and all citizens, and to proceed, on this basis, to establish the legal consequences, the same source stressed.
This approach, it pointed out, follows the consultation of press articles and information circulated on social networks, reporting an alleged misappropriation, by certain individuals, of consumer products and provisions mobilized on a voluntary basis as part of solidarity campaigns with the victims of the tragic earthquake that shook certain provinces and regions of the Kingdom.
The instructions from the Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office stem from its commitment to strictly and firmly enforce the law against any person presumed to be involved in these criminal acts, which are severely punished by Moroccan law, noted the statement, adding that the aim is also to protect the noble voluntary actions of solidarity towards eligible populations, and to punish all criminal acts likely to undermine them.
