Rabat - Moroccan law enforcement arrested two female minors, aged 16 and 17, in the tourist city of Marrakesh on Thursday on charges of “homosexuality,” according to a release by the Free Feminist Union (UFL).
Rabat – Moroccan law enforcement arrested two female minors, aged 16 and 17, in the tourist city of Marrakesh on Thursday on charges of “homosexuality,” according to a release by the Free Feminist Union (UFL).
The union contacted one of the girls’ mothers, who said they both had been taken to the police station and had been arrested on the spot. They are scheduled to appear in court Friday, November 4th.
The mother said she had been contacted by the authorities, who asked the parent to bring identity-establishing documents for the accused to a Marrakesh police station.
On Friday, officers notified the girls’ families that they had been transferred to the Boulamharaz prison, instead of the correctional facility for minors.
“The girl’s mother does not know anything about the fate of her daughter and the visiting hours have not been communicated,” according to the union’s release.
“[The UFL strongly condemns the arrest of the two girls, as well as the treatment they are undergoing in the Boulamharaz prison. The group appeals to Moroccan human rights and legal associations to end…the injustice in which we now live.”
Article 489 of the Moroccan Penal Code punishes sexual activities between people of the same sex with a prison sentence that could range between six months to three years as well as a fine ranging from MAD 120 to MAD 1,200. The same article also asserts that heterosexual sexual relations out of wedlock are punishable by law.
Homosexual couples have been arrested and charged several times this year, all over Morocco, including Casablanca and Beni Mellal.
