Rabat – Forty-four hours after the arrest of the director of newspaper Akhbar Al Yaoum Taoufik Bouachrine, four female journalists were summoned for hearing over allegations of sexual assault.
On Saturday, the Public Prosecutor General Office released a communiqué indicating that the reason behind Bouachrine’s arrest was related to sexual assault complaints.
On Sunday, Bouachrine; Hanane Bakour, the editor in chief of Al Akhbar Alyaoum newspaper; and the director of the Febrayer.com, Maria Moukrim, were heard by the National Brigade for the Judicial Police in relation Bouachrine’s case.
“After hearing the statements of [Bouachrine] in accordance with article 80 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the request of the judicial police to extend the custody period to 24 hours was approved to complete the ongoing investigation,” said the Public Prosecutor’s statement.
Bouachrine will be presented again before the Public Prosecution on February 26, added the statement.
Btissam Machkour, director of the women’s site Soltana, belonging to Akhbar Alyaoum and Amal Houari, journaliste at Akhbar Al Yaoum, were summoned for a hearing on Saturday.
Taoufik Bouachrine was placed in custody after his arrest on Friday in the offices of his newspaper. According to alyaoum24, twenty policemen entered the headquarter of the newspaper in Casablanca and arrested its director.
