Extradited or not extradited? What does Moroccan law provide for Badiss Mohamed Bajjou, suspected of being the sponsor of "cryptorapts"

Shortly after the Moroccan police announced the arrest of Badiss Mohamed Bajjou , suspected of having been the mastermind behind a large number of kidnappings that have rocked the cryptocurrency scene in recent months, Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin thanked the Moroccan authorities "for this arrest, which demonstrates the excellent judicial cooperation" between Paris and Rabat, "particularly against organized crime."

Now, Paris would naturally like to repatriate the suspect, who "was the subject of two red notices for his provisional arrest for extradition purposes ," as Bruno Retailleau's entourage told Libération . One of these concerns, in particular, the facts of "arbitrary arrest, kidnapping, sequestration or detention of a hostage to obtain the execution of an order or a condition, committed by an organized gang."

But although there is an extradition agreement between the Kingdom of Morocco and the French Republic, which came into force in 2011, neither Rabat nor France accepts the extradition of their nationals. Badiss Mohamed Bajjou, presented as "Franco-Moroccan" by the Moroccan police press release, "cannot be handed over by Morocco to France to explain himself before the latter's justice system," says Zakaria Mrini, a lawyer and president of the Moroccan Association of Young Lawyers. What will become of Bajjou? "The Moroccan Code of Criminal Procedure provides that any act classified as a crime by Moroccan law and committed outside the kingdom by a Moroccan can be prosecuted and judged in Morocco," explains Mrini.

The case of Badiss Mohamed Bajjou is reminiscent of that of Nabil Ibelaten. In 2013, this Franco-Moroccan man rose to fame by pulling off a robbery at a luxury watch store in Cannes. Sentenced in absentia by the French courts to ten years in prison and a €200,000 fine, he fled to Morocco, where he enjoyed taunting French magistrates from a distance. He was finally arrested by Moroccan authorities in 2015, who refused to extradite him after he asked to answer questions in French courts.

But according to Mohamed Aghnaj, a criminal lawyer in Casablanca, Badiss Mohamed Bajjou could still find himself behind bars in France. If convicted in Morocco, he could be transferred there to serve his sentence. Paris and Rabat signed an agreement in 1981 allowing the transfer of prisoners. Since a 2007 amendment, the application of the agreement to people with dual French and Moroccan nationality has been possible. "It remains a question of sovereignty on the part of Morocco," comments Mr. Aghnaj, while Mr. Mrini sees it as "a possibility, but a very complicated one."