On Saturday, July 19, the Rabat Court of Appeal sentenced the former President of the Bar, Mohamed Ziane, to five years in prison and a fine of 5,000 dirhams. The lawyer was prosecuted following a complaint lodged by the Rabat section of the Free Liberal Party (PLL) for «misappropriation and squandering of subsidies granted by the State to the party». He headed the party from 2002 to January 2021. The court also handed down the same sentence to the ex-treasurer of the PLL, while a party employee received a one-year suspended sentence. Unlike Ziane, the other two defendants were prosecuted on bail. In May 2023, the Court of Cassation upheld Mohamed Ziane's sentence of three years' imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 dirhams, as expressed in the first-instance and appeal verdicts against the former barrister in February and November 2022, respectively. Ziane is being held in El Arjat prison, where he is serving his sentence.
