Franco-Moroccan Man Faces French Citizenship Loss Over Adultery Conviction

Born in Marrakech, Morocco, Rahim (pseudonym), 49, married a French woman in February 2008, but only obtained French nationality on May 28, 2021, after applying for it on December 17, 2020 at the French consulate in Marrakech. A nationality that this prosperous entrepreneur and father of two children could lose this Thursday before the Paris judicial court, which will rule on the request filed in May 2022 by the Paris public prosecutor’s office, reports Le Parisien.

The public prosecutor’s office is requesting the deprivation of French nationality for Rahim on the basis of his conviction to six months in prison for adultery by the court of first instance in Marrakech in August 2021. A decision that was upheld on appeal in October of the same year. "[...] This adulterous relationship shows a lack of respect for the duty of fidelity, prescribed by Article 212 of the Civil Code," argues the Paris public prosecutor’s office.

For their part, Rahim’s lawyers, Mes Lola Dubois and Yassine Yakouti, denounce the basis of this approach, arguing that adultery has not been punished in France since 1975. "A conviction in a foreign country for acts that are not criminally punishable in France cannot in any way justify a decision to cancel a declaration relating to the acquisition of French nationality," they noted.

To justify its request, the Paris public prosecutor’s office produces two letters addressed by Rahim’s wife to the French consulate. In the first, dated January 20, 2022, she informs that she filed a complaint against her husband after his mistress revealed to her the existence of their relationship that had been going on for five years. "He does not deserve the honor of being French because after all these facts I realize that from the beginning our marriage had as its only goal and objective the obtaining of this nationality and a French passport," she writes.

Arguments rejected by Rahim’s defense. "Our client, whose marriage dates back to 2008, could have made this request for many years, so we cannot at all claim that he made a white marriage. He did not make his request for economic reasons but to facilitate the links with his children. Depriving him of his nationality would have consequences on his family life," emphasize Mes Dubois and Yakouti.