MADRID – A Moroccan man who spent 15 years in prison for rapes he did not commit will receive €2.5 million in compensation after Spain’s Supreme Court ruled that he was the victim of a serious judicial error, according to Reuters.
The ruling, issued by Spain’s highest court, overturns an earlier decision by the National Court that had refused compensation despite the man’s exoneration. The Supreme Court said the case involved an “unequivocal and qualified” judicial error during the original proceedings in Barcelona.
The man, identified as Ahmed Tommouhi, a bricklayer from Morocco, moved to Spain in 1991 in search of a new life. He was later convicted and sentenced to 24 years in prison for two rapes and one robbery committed in Catalonia in northeastern Spain the same year. He served 15 years before being released.
Tommouhi was fully cleared of the remaining charges in December following a long campaign to prove his innocence. The final breakthrough came after one of the alleged victims stated that he was not the attacker.
Speaking to reporters, Tommouhi said the wrongful conviction had devastated his life. “The justice system has ruined my life,” he said, adding that the compensation could not restore the years lost in prison. “They’ve stolen 36 years of my life,” he said.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court noted that key expert biological evidence, which indicated that the perpetrator of the rapes was not Tommouhi, had not been properly considered during the original trial.
The case has renewed attention on issues of wrongful convictions and judicial accountability in Spain, particularly in cases involving forensic evidence and long-running appeals processes.
Paraluman P. Funtanilla
Paraluman P. Funtanilla is Tutubi News Magazine's Marketing Specialist and is a Contributing Editor. She finished her degree in Communication Arts in De La Salle Lipa. She has worked as a Digital Marketer for start-up businesses and small business spaces for the past two years. She has earned certificates from Coursera on Brand Management: Aligning Business Brand and Behavior and Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content. She also worked with Asia Express Romania TV Show.
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
- Paraluman P. Funtanilla
