Benaissa Ait Jid case: Islamist leader Abdelali Hamieddine finds the accused bench

This Monday, May 5, 2025 marks a turning point in the endless judicial soap opera surrounding the death of Benaissa Ait El Jid. The second -degree criminal chamber at the Court of Appeal of Fès resumes the examination of the case of Abdelali Hamieddine, Islamist leader accused of having participated in the assassination of the leftist student in 1993. The public prosecutor requested an additional period to guarantee the presence of El Khammar Haddioui, central witness whose absence during the previous audiences had hindered the procedure, reports Al AHDATH Al Maghribia in its edition of Monday, May 5.

In July 2023, the first instance criminal chamber had sentenced Hammeddine to three years in prison for “Participation in assaults that led to death without intention to give it”, Assorted by compensation of 20,000 dirhams to the family of the victim and a symbolic dirham at the AMDH. This reclassification of the facts (Haméddine was initially prosecuted for voluntary homicide with premeditation) aroused the indignation of the relatives of Ait El Jid and human rights associations, which denounce a minimization of responsibilities. Conversely, the PJD qualified the verdict as “very severe” and his lawyer decided to appeal.

The testimony of El Khammar Haddioui, friend of the victim and survivor of the assault, remains at the heart of the debates. “”In his statements, he accuses Hamieddine of having immobilized Ait El Jid during the attack, thus facilitating the deadly blow to the head of the latter with a sidewalk border ”, note Al AHDATH Al Maghribia.

The facts date back to February 1993, when clashes between Islamist and leftist students at Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University degenerate. Ait El Jid and Haddioui, then in taxi, are intercepted by a group of Islamist students not far from the University City Dhar Mahraz. The leftist student succumbs to his injuries a few days later.