Spanish court
Moroccan who served 15years cleared. The Supreme Court of Spain declared on Thursday that it had overturned a Moroccan builder’s sentence for a rape he did not commit.
According to a court statement, expert evidence that would have aided Ahmed Toummouhi’s defense was never presented to the Barcelona court during his trial.
The verdict on Thursday overturned Toummouhi’s 1992 conviction in a Barcelona court for rape and violence, for which he was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
According to the court statement issued on Thursday, the scientific analysis in question stated that the sperm found in the rape victim’s underpants was not a genetic match for Toummouhi.
Despite the fact that the scientific study was completed in 1992, individuals responsible had failed to appear at the trial and the court had not paused proceedings to ensure that they did, it noted.
This new court decision came in response to a petition submitted by Toummouhi, who was released from prison in 2006.
Following a string of rapes in northeast Catalonia in the 1990s, he and another Moroccan were apprehended.
In 2000, the other man died in prison.
Only a few years later was the actual rapist, a Spaniard who resembled Toummouhi, apprehended.
In an interview with El Pais last year, the victim of the rape for which Toummouhi was convicted appealed for his release. She was only 14 years old at the time of the incident.
The court stated that it would publish its full judgement in the following days.