Moroccan Man Sentenced to Prison for Beating Cat to Death in Street

Justice attaches importance to the protection of animals. Prosecuted in a state of freedom before the court of first instance of Tétouan, a man was sentenced to three months in prison for having beaten a cat to death in the street. Rokaya Loukili, president of the local branch of the Association for the Defense of Animals and Nature (ADAN) who filed a complaint against him, is pleased with this judgment. "I would like to thank the public prosecutor for taking this case seriously," the plaintiff said on the Arabic-language website Akhbarona. According to her, this verdict will raise public awareness about the protection of stray animals.

In early September 2022, a video showing the defendant trampling on a cat in the street, before hitting it against a wall until its death, in Tétouan, went viral on social media. Following the complaint filed by the president of ADAN, the man was arrested, but the public prosecutor near the court of first instance of Tétouan had ordered him to be prosecuted in a state of freedom against a bail of 2,500 dirhams.