The attack
On February 25, 1993, Benaissa Ait El Jid and fellow student El Khammar El Haddioui left Fez University after a meeting and took a taxi. Contemporary accounts and later court reporting describe the vehicle being stopped near the Dhar El Mehraz university area and the two students being attacked during a period of violent rivalry between leftist and Islamist student factions.
Ait El Jid suffered a severe head injury and died in hospital several days later, on March 1, 1993. El Haddioui survived and later became a central witness in the long-running litigation.
Why the case lasted decades
The killing generated multiple files, complaints and prosecutions over many years. Some proceedings were closed or revisited, while later complaints and testimony reopened parts of the case. That complicated history is one reason this page does not reduce the case to a single defendant or a single judgment.
In September 2019, four former students were convicted in a related proceeding. Two received three-year prison terms for complicity in intentional homicide, while two others received three-month terms for assault-related offences. Those different outcomes are reported separately rather than merged into a single claim of responsibility.
The Hamieddine prosecution
Abdelali Hamieddine, a former parliamentarian and Justice and Development Party figure, was separately prosecuted in the reopened case. On July 11, 2023, the first-instance criminal chamber at the Fez Court of Appeal sentenced him to three years in prison and ordered compensation to the victim's family.
Sources differ in how they summarize the legal characterization used at different stages — from alleged complicity in intentional homicide to a conviction described as participation in assault causing death without intent to cause it. This archive therefore reports the sentence and procedural status without overstating the precise doctrinal label beyond the source being cited.
The appeal remains active
Both Hamieddine's defense and the Ait El Jid family announced appeals after the 2023 judgment. The appellate proceeding remained active in 2024 and 2026. On May 25, 2026, the criminal appeals chamber in Fez postponed the case again, setting the next hearing for October 15, 2026.
Because that appeal has not yet been resolved as of this update, this archive classifies the case as partially adjudicated rather than completely closed. Hamieddine is described as convicted at first instance, not as finally convicted after all appeals.
February 25, 1993: Ait El Jid and El Haddioui are attacked after leaving Fez University.
March 1, 1993: Ait El Jid dies from his injuries.
September 2019: four former students receive different prison sentences in a related proceeding.
July 11, 2023: Abdelali Hamieddine receives a three-year prison sentence in the reopened case.
July 12, 2023: both sides announce appeals.
May 25, 2026: the appellate hearing is postponed to October 15, 2026.
Current status
Several people have been convicted in proceedings related to the 1993 killing. Hamieddine's 2023 conviction is still under appeal, with the next hearing scheduled for October 15, 2026. The case therefore remains partially adjudicated in this archive.
Sources
Archive context
This case is included in the Morocco archive. Related historical files include The Assassination of Omar Benjelloun and The Disappearance of Mehdi Ben Barka.