Moroccan inmate ‘died of kidney disease’

The Moroccan inmate who was claimed to have passed away in prison due to alleged mistreatment died at the hospital due to kidney disease and other health complications, it was officially confirmed yesterday. The inmate’s death has been making the rounds online during the past few days, as a video of a televised interview with his mother posted on social media networks, claimed that her son died as a result of mistreatment and abuse he received from other inmates and some guards at the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre in Jau.

Interior Ministry issued a statement yesterday denying the claims posted online and clarifying that the inmate died at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) because of pain in the kidney and severe anaemia.  “Reformation and Rehabilitation Director-General offered on Sunday condolences to the family of deceased Moroccan inmate, Najeeb Mahfouz Ibn Al Sharqi. He was serving a 15-year sentence for raping a female, forced robbery and physical assault with another convict on November 10, 2013,” the statement read.

The official confirmed in the statement that “the deceased was brought to the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre on June 2, 2014, and that he was asked back then, in the presence of the representative of the Moroccan Embassy, if he wanted to be transferred to Morocco to serve his sentence there, but he refused”.  The Director-General further explained: “His mother filed a complaint at the centre about maltreatment her son received from some inmates.

The department reacted by shifting him to another building. The inmate was referred to SMC on February 17, 2019, because of pain in the kidneys and severe anaemia.” “The department was informed about his death on February 21, 2019,” the official added, while calling upon the press and the social media to follow professionalism in publishing news and seek information from reliable sources.