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Casablanca — Hajar and Sanae, aged 16 and 17, who were arrested in October on charges of homosexuality, were finally deemed innocent by Marrakech court today.
The two girls were arrested on October 27 after a passerby caught them kissing on a Marrakech terrace. After a few days in detention, the girls were granted temporary release pending the court’s ruling. At 10:30 AM today, the court announced that the two girls were innocent and free to go.
Following their October arrest, the two girls had received support from a variety of Moroccan organizations, including the Aswat Collective, Akalyat and the Free Feminist Union. An international LGBT rights organization, All Out, also got involved and partnered up with said Moroccan organizations to launch and online petition and postcard campaign in support of the two girls.
The petition, which addressed Morocco’s minister of justice and the minister of interior, called on Moroccan authorities to release the girls and all others convicted on charges of homosexuality. It was able to collect more than 103,000 signatures.
In response to the December 9 verdict, All Out team member Mathias Wasik told Morocco World News, “This is a huge victory for LGBT rights in Morocco, one day ahead of the International Human Rights Day. Thanks to brave Moroccan activists and more than 103,000 All Out members from all around the world, the girls are free.”
“But this can only be the beginning,” he adds. “The girls should never have been charged in the first place. We will continue urging Moroccan authorities to free all other prisoners who were convicted only because of their sexual orientation, to abolish article 489 of the Moroccan penal code, and to guarantee and protect civil liberties and the right to privacy to all citizens.”
Meanwhile, Ibtissame “Betty” Lachgar, spokesperson and co-founder of MALI, the Alternative Movement for Individual Liberties, tells MWN that “activism, struggle and international pressure always pay off. But we must not forget that the crime the two young girls were arrested for will leave a legal trail that will not be erased until they’re eighteen.”
“We must abolish these laws that infringe on liberty and also do more work in terms of sex education in order to change mentalities. Sexuality is a taboo subject, but let’s not forget that sex outside of marriage and adultery are also condemned by Moroccan law. We need a feminist and sexual revolution!”
Despite the girls’ release, the Moroccan law remains the same, and any person arrested on charges of homosexuality faces up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 1200 dirhams, as condemned by Article 489 of the Moroccan penal code.
