The investigative judge at the Casablanca Court of Appeals ordered on Monday evening that the driver of a taxi be transferred to Oukacha local prison, while three other drivers are to be held in custody. This decision follows an incident involving a Russian diplomat and his wife, who were physically assaulted while riding in a ride-hailing car booked through the Russian mobile app Yango. The attack began when taxi drivers blocked, last Friday, the path of the ride-hailing car and assaulted its driver. The Russian couple, who intervened to protest the attack, were subsequently targeted by the assailants. According to local media, the defendants appeared on Sunday before the king's prosecutor at the Ain Sebaa Magistrate's Court. As reported by Hespress, the Russian embassy has been closely following the case, attending hearings and monitoring developments. The diplomat insists on pressing charges against those who detained and threatened him in a car in front of a hotel. Mustapha Kihel, national secretary of the Moroccan Democratic Union of Workers, which oversees the taxi sector, stated that the detained driver was present last Friday in front of the Sheraton Hotel on Royal Army Street in Casablanca, at the designated taxi stand. In a Facebook post, Kihel explained that the driver, along with other drivers, was surprised to see a private car stop in front of the hotel to pick up a customer, whose identity was unknown to them. The situation escalated, leading to an altercation between the drivers and the owner of the private car.
