Rabat – Opposition parties PAM and USFP have joined forces to denounce the arrest of two women in Inezgane who are facing charges for “gross indecency” after having been arrested for having worn miniskirts last week.
Deputies of the two parties gathered at the House of Representatives on Tuesday and declared that the arrest of the two young women might feed extremism and cause acts of terrorism in the country.
In the wake of the Sousse massacre in Tunisia that left thirty-eight people dead, the PAM and USFP also urged the government to strengthen security measures in the vicinity of beaches frequented by tourists
Tourism Minister Lahcen Haddad reaffirmed Morocco’s status as a stable and tolerant country despite the violence that swept neighboring countries in the region. Haddad also echoed Morocco’s strong condemnation of the terrorist attack on the Tunisian resort town of Sousse last week.
The National Rally of Independents (RNI), a member of the ruling coalition, has also denounced the arrest of the two women—aged 23 and 29—and described the Inezgane open-air market street vendors’ harassing behavior as a form of “terrorism.”
The two women will be tried under article 483 of the Moroccan Penal Code which states that anyone found guilty of committing an act of “public obscenity” such as “gross indecency” can be jailed for between a month and two years. Their first trial has been set for July 6th, 2015.
Edited by Marwa Al Omami
