Moroccan Lawmaker Pushes for Penal Code Reform on Personal Freedoms

Last Sunday, in the "Confidences de presse" program on 2M, the Deputy stated that he had tabled amendments as a parliamentarian and that he was surprised to learn that the September 10 deadline set for parliamentarians to submit their amendments had been extended.

Omar Balafrej wanted to clarify, especially for those who accuse him of defending debauchery. The "most important" for the Deputy is Article 490, which punishes "with one month to one year in prison all persons of different sexes who have sexual relations outside of marriage".

According to him, punishing sexual relations in public is already sufficient. "But as for relations between two consenting adults, in a private place, I believe that the role of the State is not to interfere in people’s lives to see what they do or not," he began.

Then, he added: "And for the people who accuse me of being against religion, I tell them that several Muslim countries like Egypt and Turkey do not criminalize sexual relations between two consenting persons".

Since the "Hajar Raïssouni" case, Omar Balafrej says he is convinced that "the issue of individual freedoms is a priority for the country". For him, there are other more important crimes than to intrude into other people’s lives.