They plead for the relaxation of Moroccan laws "which are no longer necessary". Hundreds of Moroccans have declared themselves "outlaws" by claiming to have already violated the "obsolete" laws of their country on mores and abortion, in a manifesto published Monday, September 2 in several Moroccan media in the name of individual freedoms.
The platform, which is a rare step of this magnitude, is also published in the French daily Le Monde, which makes it one of its edition of Tuesday, September 24.
"We are outlaws, we are violating laws that are unfair, obsolete, no longer necessary, we have had sex outside of marriage, we have been subjected to, practiced, or have been complicit in an abortion," signatories in a rare step of this magnitude.
"Liberty and Inapplicable Laws"
"The culture of lies and social hypocrisy generates violence, arbitrariness, intolerance, and these laws, which are liberticidal and unenforceable, have become tools of political or personal revenge," says the manifesto launched as an open petition. to men.
The text co-authored by the French-Moroccan writer Leila Slimani symbolically bears 490 signatures, with reference to Article 490 of the Moroccan Penal Code, which punishes non-marital sexual relations.
Its publication coincides with the third hearing of the trial of Hajar Raissouni, a journalist in detention since late August for "illegal abortion" and "debauchery" (sex outside marriage). This reporter from the Arabic-language daily Akhbar Al-Yaoum denounces a "political affair" since his arrest.
"Defend all broken lives"
Her request for her release was rejected last week by the Rabat court, as did her fiancé, the doctor, the nurse and the medical secretary, who were arrested at the same time. The hearing on Monday must be devoted to the merits, the "defects of form" raised by the defense have not been retained.
Beyond this case, the manifesto of "Outlaws" wants "to defend all the lives shattered by disgrace, infamy or jail", told AFP Leila Slimani, appointed in 2017 personal representative French President Emmanuel Macron for La Francophonie.
"This is a campaign carried by women of all stripes, teachers, bankers, housewives, students, artists or intellectuals," told AFP director Sonia Terrab, co-author of the text.
The manifesto evokes in its form the feminist manifesto said "343 sluts" that tipped the law on abortion in France in the early 1970s.
In 2018, Moroccan justice prosecuted 14,503 people for debauchery, 3,048 for adultery, 170 for homosexuality and 73 for abortions, according to official figures. Between 600 and 800 clandestine abortions are practiced daily in Morocco, according to estimates.
With AFP