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Marrakech – An Abu Dhabi court has convicted an Emirati national of inciting child marriage in Morocco after a video he posted online ignited a firestorm of outrage across both countries.
The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeals – State Security Chamber – on Wednesday sentenced Saif Salem Saif Ali Al Maqbali to three years in prison and slapped him with a five-million-dirham (AED) fine.
The court further ordered the deletion of the offending video, the permanent closure of his social media accounts, and the confiscation of the mobile phone used to commit the offense.
The UAE Attorney-General had fast-tracked the case to an expedited trial after investigations established that Al Maqbali had published a video explicitly urging acquaintances to travel to Morocco and marry underage girls – some as young as 14.
He brazenly and falsely claimed that Moroccan law sanctioned such unions. Prosecutors found that his rhetoric was calculated to sow discord, stoke hatred, and inflict damage on the fraternal ties binding the Emirati and Moroccan peoples – a grave transgression of the UAE’s laws and societal values.
A repugnant scheme dressed as humor
The scandal erupted after the video circulated widely on social media platforms. Al Maqbali addressed friends and associates in the footage, beckoning them to Morocco to wed minor girls he described as “good-natured.”
He also told older men among them that he could procure them 14-year-old girls in Morocco, vowing, “She will cure you of strokes, blood pressure, and diabetes.” The depraved remarks unleashed a torrent of indignation across social media, with users accusing him of degrading Morocco and Moroccan women.
He also appeared to be filming in the company of an individual believed to operate a marriage brokerage facilitating unions with Moroccan women.
When the backlash reached a deafening pitch, Al Maqbali – having already fled Moroccan soil – attempted a craven retreat. He surfaced in a second video, dismissing his vile pronouncements as a “joke” exchanged within a private group chat.
He insisted that his reference to “14-year-old girls” had been wrenched from context, and that someone in the group had leaked the clip without his consent. He further claimed he had only ever meant marriage to women above 18.
The alibi was as pitiful as it was revolting, and the justification was as laughable as it was abhorrent. A man caught on camera peddling the exploitation of children does not earn absolution by labeling predatory incitement a jest.
Rights groups mobilize
Moroccan civil society moved swiftly. The Dounia Coalition for Ending Child Marriage condemned the video as unambiguous incitement to child exploitation and human trafficking, warning that such content on social media platforms poses a direct menace to the rights and dignity of girls.
The Moroccan child protection organization Matkich Waldi (Don’t Touch My Child) filed a formal complaint with the King’s Prosecutor General in Rabat, demanding an urgent judicial investigation to identify every individual implicated in the video and to impose the full weight of the law upon them.
In a public statement following the verdict, the organization’s president, Najat Anwar, welcomed the severity of the sentence and paid tribute to the vigilance of Moroccan social media users and bloggers who first flagged the content.
The organization stressed that the case lends renewed momentum to Morocco’s ongoing legislative overhaul of the 2004 Family Code (Moudawana), carried out under the directives of King Mohammed VI, which places the dignity and best interests of the Moroccan child above all other considerations.
Matkich Waldi indicated that the exploitation of minors – whether through direct abuse or digital incitement and facilitation – constitutes a heinous crime demanding collective mobilization from authorities, civil society, media, and digital activists alike.
The organization urged Moroccan families to heighten their watchfulness against online threats and to report any suspicious content endangering children without delay.
In line with the country’s commitments under international conventions aimed at eradicating child marriage, the Moroccan penal code prescribes prison terms and steep fines for the sexual exploitation of minors or incitement thereof.
