The Moroccan Association for the Fight against Corruption initiated a lawsuit against the head of Al Istiqlal Party, Hamid Chabat, and Mohamed Salhi, member of the local bureau of Al Istiqlal Pary in Tetouan, with an aim to recover a work of art of the Spanish artist Mariano Bertuchi, who offered it to the leading Moroccan resistance movement member Abdessalam Bennouna in 1935.
Isaac Sharia, a well-known Moroccan of Jewish descent, who was entrusted by The Moroccan Association for the Fight against Corruption to take the case to justice told Telquel that the aforementioned NGO suspects Hamid Chabat and Mohamed Salhi of stealing the work of art.
According to Mr. Isaac, the 7 million dirhams worth work of art was hanging on the walls of the local section of the Independence party in Tetouan, before disappearing from sights.
Telquel contacted Hamid Chabat to ask him about the case. He said that “the painting was not stolen. Rather, it was taken to the party’s head office in Rabat so that it would be better maintained and preserved.”
He added: “it is our property and we can do with it what we want.”
The Moroccan Times.
