Bashir Ben Barka, son of the Moroccan opposition leader Mehdi Ben Barka, who was kidnapped in Paris in 1965 and whose body was never found, was heard by investigators last Thursday. He confirmed that “the investigation into the case has not stopped.”
According to French media, Bashir Ben Barka was interviewed for two hours by the new judge assigned to the case, which has been open since 1975, making it the oldest unresolved case in France. After the session, Bashir remarked that “we feel this judge is genuinely committed. For a year, she has engaged with the case and wants to conduct further investigations.”
The Disappearance of Mehdi Ben Barka
The circumstances surrounding Mehdi Ben Barka’s disappearance remain murky even six decades later. How did the man who played a significant role in his country’s independence meet his end, and where is his body?
Mehdi Ben Barka was a leader in the anti-colonial movement and a critic of King Hassan II. He was abducted on October 29, 1965, outside a restaurant in Paris and has not been seen since, despite being sentenced to death in absentia in Morocco.
A preliminary trial in 1967 established that Moroccan intelligence orchestrated the kidnapping in collusion with French police and criminals. However, the case has not been fully resolved.
Bashir Ben Barka stated that “it has been established that Israeli intelligence was involved in the abduction,” and that French and American intelligence agencies were also aware in advance.
He criticized what he called a “farce” perpetrated by the French state, noting that the government has announced the declassification of more than 80 documents that were already part of the case file. He expressed concern that authorities “are waiting for all the witnesses to pass away.”
Regarding the suspects, of the five arrest warrants issued by a Parisian investigating judge in 2007, only two remain valid. These target General Hosni Ben Slimane, then head of the Royal Gendarmerie, and Miloud Tunisian, an alleged member of the execution team, as “the other three subjects have passed away.”
Mary Duzé, Bashir Ben Barka’s lawyer, remarked, “In cases like this, time is not an enemy; it can serve as an asset.” She added, “Witnesses may become courageous enough to speak, and files can be declassified.”
