The man is known for his criticism of King Mohammed VI. and for publicly renouncing his Moroccan citizenship after receiving his French passport in 2017. The top athlete claims to have been tortured during a trip to his home country. Back in France, he denounced the Moroccan secret services on several platforms, which he blamed for his misfortune.
He claimed to have been threatened in France and applied for political asylum in Canada in 2017. A request that Montreal’s Immigration and Refugee Enforcement Service eventually approved as French authorities had not shown enough will to protect him from threats and attacks related to his political positions, reports The press.
Read: Zakaria Moumni claims to be threatened in France and is seeking political asylum in Canada
The repetition of the threats, the ability of the attackers to locate him at home and attack him, the persistence of this situation for several years “lead the court to conclude that the applicant was the victim of political persecution in France,” it says in the justification decision. .
And to conclude that “taking into account all the threats and the attack of which he was a victim […], the French authorities do not seem to have shown the slightest will to protect him”. “My client is relieved as this file has dragged on for several years,” said Me Stéphane Handfield, attorney for Zakaria Moumni.
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