Man sentenced to death over lawmaker's killing

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January 16, 2018 4:57 PM

A Moroccan court sentenced to death a man over the murder of a member of parliament and jailed his widow, in a case involving sex and money, the government said Tuesday.

Abdellatif Merdas, who was a member of the liberal Constitutional Union party, was gunned down near his house in Casablanca in March last year.

A local councillor, Hicham Mouchtari, was sentenced to death on Monday after he was convicted of "premeditated murder", the justice ministry said.

Merdas's widow, Ouafae Bensamadi, was given a life sentence, and a female acquaintance of hers described as a "fortune-teller" was sentenced to 20 years in jail.

According to media reports of the investigation, Bensamadi had been having an affair with Mouchtari, who killed Merdas with the help of a nephew -- who was sentenced Monday to 30 years in jail.

The motives were "sex, money and vengeance," the state prosecutor said during the investigation, dismissing any political reason for the killing of Merdas.

Bensamadi, who consulted the fortune-teller, had allegedly been abused by her husband and was seeking revenge, according to media reports citing the investigation.

Morocco has not abolished the death penalty but has not carried out any executions since 1993.

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