Moroccan gardener's case submitted to revision court in france
Morocco-France, Local, 6/26/2001

The case of Omar Raddad, who was condemned for the murder of his employer - a murder he has always denied- will be submitted to a revision court which will likely rule the indictment annulment.

The new step acknowledges the existence of new elements which were unknown to the court which sentenced Raddad in February 1994 to 18 years in prison and that these elements are casting doubts on his culpability.

The court will decide whether there are actually enough doubts to hold another trial.

The patch up investigation on the murder of Ghislaine Marchall, 65, in June 1991 in southeastern France had sparked criticism by several personalities, intellectuals, attorneys and associations, especially after the Moroccan gardener's indictments and subsequent prison sentence without any cogent evidence. Two years later, French president, Jacques Chirac, granted him a partial pardon.

Raddad's attorney, Jacques Verges, brought new elements, mainly genetic expertise proving that blood found on the crime scene was not Raddad's, medico-legal expertise casting doubts on the supposed death time, and graphology expertise indicating that the blood inscription "Omar m'a tuer" (Omar Killed me) could not have been written by the victim.

Raddad, who was freed following the French president's partial pardon and hired by a Moroccan who owns a company in France, was received last May by King Mohammed VI.

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