Moroccan inmate died after suffering multi-organ failure, SIU probe reveals

New details were revealed in the case of the Moroccan inmate who passed away last month while in prison. This comes as the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) issued a statement on Saturday, clarifying that it has completed its investigation into that case and denied any torture allegations. In the statement, Deputy Attorney General and SIU member Mohammed Yousif Al Zubari said the unit detected, on February 22, 2019, video footage of a woman posted on social media networks, claiming that her son, an inmate in the Reformation and Rehabilitation Centre in Jau area, was subjected to torture and maltreatment.

Mr Al Zubari stated that the unit initiated intensive investigations into the case. The inmate was identified as Najeeb Mahfoudh Ibn Al Sharqi, a Moroccan national who was serving a 15-year imprisonment sentence issued against him on November 11, 2013, after being convicted in a number of crimes. The unit’s investigations also indicated that the inmate passed away at Salmaniya Medical Complex on February 20, 2019, and that the woman seen in the video is his mother, in addition to the fact that the footage was filmed in Morocco.

He said: “In its efforts to reveal the truth behind the torture claims and determine the responsible individuals, the SIU took the necessary procedures and assigned an official coroner to examine the body of the deceased.” “ Further investigations proved that the deceased was taken to Salmaniya Medical Complex on February 16, 2019, after complaining from abdominal pain, hematuria, diarrhea, high temperature and general fatigue. He remained in the hospital, where he was provided with the necessary intensive medical procedures, but he died on the aforementioned date,” Mr Al Zubari said.

The official also said that the reports issued by the Health and Social Affairs Directorate in Interior Ministry showed that the inmate, since his detention, received comprehensive examination and treatment procedures, which didn’t show any traces of violence or resistance. Mr Al Zubari also confirmed that the deceased’s body was autopsied as per a request from the Moroccan Embassy in Bahrain, adding that the autopsy report proved that he died because of the illness and the accompanying malfunction in the performance of several crucial organs including the heart.

As reported earlier by Tribune, the inmate’s story surfaced after a video of a televised interview with his mother, claiming 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, went viral online. Interior Ministry promptly issued a statement denying the claims posted online and clarifying that the inmate died at Salmaniya Medical Complex because of pain in the kidney and severe anaemia. 

The ministry also said that the deceased was asked in 2014, 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. It was also revealed in the ministry’s statement that the deceased’s mother filed a complaint to the centre about maltreatment her son received from some inmates and that he was shifted to another building. Mr Al Zubari added on Saturday that the deceased’s cellmates were interrogated and denied that if he was tortured or mistreated in any way.