Key facts
- Ahmed Tommouhi will receive €2.5 million in compensation from Spain.
- Tommouhi spent 15 years in prison for rapes he did not commit.
Spain's Supreme Court has ordered the state to pay €2.5 million ($2.87 million) in compensation to Ahmed Tommouhi, a Moroccan man who spent 15 years in prison for rapes he did not commit. The court ruled there was a judicial error in his original trial.
This case highlights significant flaws within Spain's judicial system and underscores the profound personal and financial toll of wrongful imprisonment, prompting a substantial state compensation payout.
A Moroccan man, Ahmed Tommouhi, who spent 15 years in prison for rapes he did not commit, is to be awarded €2.5 million ($2.87 million) in compensation by Spain's Supreme Court. Tommouhi, 75, had been jailed for 24 years for two rapes and one count of robbery in Catalonia in 1991.
His exoneration came after a long campaign, culminating in one of the victims stating he was not the attacker. The Supreme Court overturned a previous decision by the National Court, which had denied compensation, stating that Tommouhi was the victim of an "unequivocal and qualified" judicial error. Tommouhi expressed that the justice system had ruined his life, and the money would not restore his health or youth, stating "they've stolen 36 years of my life."
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