According to Le Monde’s recent article titled: « In Morocco, scores are settled after a former spy chief flees abroad », the newspaper reveals that Hejjawi fled to Europe under mysterious circumstances. It suggests that internal power struggles may have been behind his flight, while Morocco is now pressuring European states to extradite him, invoking charges of “fraud, forgery, and belonging to a criminal network.”
Tags : Morocco, Mehdi Hijaouy, DGED, DST, Moroccan intelligence services, Le Monde,
In a striking precedent in the history of Moroccan intelligence services, the French newspaper Le Monde has uncovered a bombshell scandal involving the escape of Mehdi Hejjawi — the former No. 2 in Morocco’s foreign intelligence agency (DGED) — to an undisclosed foreign country. The case is shrouded in conflicting reports, mystery about his whereabouts, and complete official silence in Morocco, shaking the very core of the regime’s security structure.Berber handicraftVisiter le Maroc
Who is Mehdi Hejjawi?
Mehdi Hejjawi is considered one of the key figures within the DGED. He held highly sensitive executive positions, particularly in transnational operations involving coordination with Western agencies, surveillance of dissidents abroad, and illicit interference in political and media affairs across Europe. Reports indicate that Hejjawi acted as the operational arm of the DGED’s most powerful man, Yassine Mansouri — a close ally of the royal palace.
The Escape & Le Monde’s Revelation
According to Le Monde’s recent article titled: « In Morocco, scores are settled after a former spy chief flees abroad », the newspaper reveals that Hejjawi fled to Europe under mysterious circumstances. It suggests that internal power struggles may have been behind his flight, while Morocco is now pressuring European states to extradite him, invoking charges of “fraud, forgery, and belonging to a criminal network.”
Yet behind these legal pretexts lies a more plausible and explosive theory: Hejjawi reportedly holds critical and damning files on the intelligence agency’s abuses, as well as evidence of the involvement of high-level Moroccan officials in espionage, corruption, and human rights violations. This makes him more of an unwanted whistleblower than a fugitive criminal.
Internal Power Struggle or Act of Rebellion?
Even the headline chosen by Le Monde suggests more than a simple escape: “Scores are settled” is not a phrase used lightly, especially when discussing a country’s deep state. Indicators point toward the possibility that Hejjawi didn’t merely flee as an individual, but may have fallen victim to internal turf wars — whether between rival factions within the Makhzen, or between the DGED and the DST (the domestic intelligence agency), or even due to a clash with the Royal Palace itself after crossing a “red line.”Berber handicraft
The Escape’s Impact on Morocco’s Image
This scandal strikes at the heart of the Moroccan state’s official narrative — portraying the kingdom as a “haven of stability” and promoting its “security professionalism” to Western partners like France and Spain. It exposes the contradictions of a regime that relentlessly hunts down dissidents abroad using covert repressive methods — only to find itself powerless in the face of rebellion within its own sovereign security apparatus.
Families Targeted & Secret Sentences: Why This Madness?
What’s alarming is that retaliation hasn’t been limited to Mehdi Hejjawi himself. His civilian and security circles — even his immediate family — have reportedly been targeted. Secret prison sentences ranging between 3 and 3.5 years have allegedly been issued against several people close to Hejjawi, with no official announcement or media coverage.
Worse still, a “modern hammam” owned by his wife in central Rabat was shut down, and its staff were brought before the terrorism court in Salé!
This is the “scorched earth” policy that the Makhzen uses when it feels threatened from within. The goal is to eliminate every potential extension of the man, to dry up any source of support he might have left in Morocco — even if that means targeting innocent relatives or business associates.
What’s happening here reveals a state of panic inside the regime, which now acts based on suspicion and revenge, not institutional justice. When innocent people are subject to sham trials merely because of family or social ties to a former official, it means the regime has entered a phase of irrationality — and that the intelligence services are starting to devour their own.
Why This Case Matters to Me Personally
As a Moroccan blogger, political and human rights activist, I have personally been the target of both direct and indirect harassment by the DGED. What Le Monde reveals today only confirms what we’ve been saying for years: that the Moroccan regime no longer distinguishes between its enemies — whether they are internal dissidents or external critics. The same repressive machine used against journalists, activists, and human rights defenders can at any time turn against insiders within the state itself.
The Mehdi Hejjawi case is not just about a former intelligence officer fleeing — it exposes a crumbling system, afraid of truth, and terrified that the silence may be broken from within.
An Open Call for Investigation & Oversight
I call on international human rights organizations, European parliaments, and independent media outlets to closely follow this case and take action to:
-Protect any former official who holds credible information that could expose human rights abuses by the Moroccan state.
-Investigate the extent of DGED’s involvement in targeting activists abroad, including the use of spyware such as Pegasus.
-Ensure that Mehdi Hejjawi is not extradited to any regime that might use violence or revenge to silence him.
Final Word
When a “spider’s web” begins collapsing from the inside, it’s a sign that silence no longer protects anyone — not within the palace, nor in the shadowy corners of its intelligence agencies.
The Hejjawi case is not the end of the story — it is only the beginning.
Qandyl Mohamed – Blogger & Independent Moroccan Human Rights and Political Activist, Targeted by Morocco’s DGED
#Morocco #DGED #Mehdi_Hijaouy #DST
