A Moroccan court on Thursday sentenced 18 Senegalese football fans to prison terms ranging from three to 12 months over hooliganism charges.
The group had been in pre-trial detention since January 18, the day of the heated AFCON final in which Morocco lost to Senegal 1-0 on home turf, after some Senegalese supporters attempted a pitch invasion while others threw objects onto the field.
Seeking the maximum penalty for some, the prosecution had told the court that the defendants had “deliberately sought to disrupt the proper conduct of the match”.
It said the group “committed acts of violence broadcast live on television,” while the defendants have denied any wrongdoing.
The Senegalese fans have been in pre-trial detention since January 18, the day of the heated AFCON final in which Morocco lost to Senegal 1-0 on home turf.
Material damage to the stadium was estimated at more than four million Moroccan dirhams ($430,000), the prosecution said.
It also said evidence against the defendants was based on footage from surveillance cameras at the stadium, as well as medical reports documenting injuries among security forces and stadium stewards.
But their lawyer, Naima El Guellaf, told the court the footage did not “contain irrefutable proof showing that any one of them struck or assaulted anyone”.
In late January, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) imposed a series of sanctions, including fines of several hundred thousand dollars, on both Senegalese and Moroccan federations for unsporting behaviour and breaches of fair play.
Guellaf said the defendants should not be “tried twice, since CAF has already sanctioned the Senegalese federation for the supporters’ behaviour”.
But Mustapha Simou, the lawyer for the civil party representing members of the security forces, said CAF’s sanctions did “not exempt the accused from criminal responsibility. On the contrary, they confirm their guilt”
