Omar Benjelloun

Who was Omar Benjelloun?

Omar Benjelloun, assassinated on 18 December 1975 in Casablanca, was a journalist, engineer, lawyer and trade union activist.

Following his graduation in telecommunications and law in Paris, Benjelloun returned to Morocco to take up a post as a regional director in telecommunications in Casablanca. He went on to become the General Secretary of the socialist party USFP, of which he had been a founding member, and editor of its journal al-Muharrir. In 1963 he received a death sentence, but was later pardoned. He was again arrested in 1966 and 1973 and subjected to torture.

On 18 December 1975 he was stabbed or battered to death in front of his home in Casablanca. It is suspected that he was killed by the Chabiba islamia.