Morocco’s Court of Cassation has delivered a “favorable opinion” on the extradition to the United States of Frenchman Sébastien Raoult, suspected in a cybercrime case, according to an official document consulted on Monday by AFP. In a decision rendered on July 20, the highest court in the country “did not order” the extradition of the 21-year-old Frenchman, imprisoned for two months in Morocco, but said it was “favorable”, explained to AFP a Moroccan source close to the file.
An extradition decided by the Prime Minister
Extradition itself can only be decided “by the Prime Minister on the proposal of a commission also bringing together the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Justice”, added the same source.
To justify its decision, the Court of Cassation indicates that the request for extradition was presented by the United States “within the period provided for by law”, accompanied by all the necessary documents (arrest warrant, summary of the facts and information on the identity of the suspect). In addition, she specifies that the “crimes” for which he is claimed by the Americans “have their equivalents in the Moroccan penal code” and adds that “the extradition request meets all the conditions required by law”.
The father of the young Frenchman reacts again
Sébastien Raoult’s French lawyer, Philippe Ohayon, reacted to AFP by reiterating his request for the opening of a judicial inquiry in France, accompanied by a French arrest warrant to obtain the extradition of his client. towards France.
This decision “strengthens us in our determination to obtain the extradition to France of Sébastien Raoult”, he said. “We believe that Sébastien Raoult was not simply abandoned by France, but that he was sacrificed, in view of the Franco-American police operation of May 31 with the arrest in France of five other people in this file”, the same day as the arrest of his client in Morocco.
Punishable by 116 years in prison
The case arouses a lot of emotion in France where Sébastien Raoult’s father recently appealed to President Emmanuel Macron to help him. The American authorities are calling for the extradition of the 21-year-old student from Epinal for his alleged involvement in a cybercrime case targeting companies, Americans in particular. According to the French weekly L’Obs, the giant Microsoft is one of them.
Sébastien Raoult has been incarcerated since June 2 in Tiflet 2 prison, near Rabat. He is liable to a sentence of 116 years in prison in the United States if convicted, according to Me Ohayon.