Moroccan Penal Code

Articles

• Morocco to Toughen Laws on Illicit Enrichment with Asset Seizure and Fines
  17 May 2019, by Amine

  The Penal Code will soon be amended to include harsher penalties against persons found guilty of illicit enrichment.
  This amendment will concern Article 8-255 of the Moroccan Penal Code and will take place, according to Le360, "as early as next week". This media indeed writes: "The Penal Code will be amended as early as next week, at the initiative of the Ministry of Justice, to include a provision whereby illicit enrichment is punishable by a fine ranging from 100,000 to one million (…)

• Moroccan Journalist Raïssouni Detained Amid Sexual Assault Investigation
  26 May 2020, by Ginette

  According to a well-informed source, "the accused was brought on Monday morning by the judicial police of Casablanca before the Attorney General of the King at the Court of Appeal of Casablanca, who in turn submitted him to the investigating judge of the same court". This is within the framework of an investigation into an indecent assault, consummated with violence and kidnapping, following a complaint filed by a person, reports the MAP.
  According to the same source, the hearing will (…)

• Father Arrested in Morocco for Chaining and Imprisoning Daughter
  13 February 2019, by Bladi.net

  The national security services of Missour had received information that a girl was in a difficult situation within a residence in a residential neighborhood, indicates the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) in a press release.
  Following the opening of the investigation, the police found the girl sequestered and tied up with metal chains, the statement said, specifying that the investigations revealed that it was the girl’s father who committed these criminal acts after the (…)

• Moroccan Sociologist Urges Open Debate on Premarital Sex and Abortion Laws
  5 April 2023, by Prince

  In Morocco, extramarital sex and abortion are two practices prohibited by law and religion. Prohibitions that are nevertheless circumvented, one way or another, believes the Moroccan sociologist, Sanaa El Aji El Hanafi, who calls for a serious debate on sexuality for a change in mentalities.
  According to the sociologist, single and childless, sexuality outside of marriage "exists" in Morocco, even if it is "forbidden" and "frowned upon socially". "Contraceptives are over-the-counter. Many (…)

• Lebanese Man Arrested in Morocco for Alleged Religious Proselytizing Near Schools
  27 December 2018, by Said

  A Lebanese national suspected of proselytizing near schools was arrested this week in Essaouira.
  According to the newspaper Al Akhbar, this Lebanese man residing in Casablanca had in his possession several religious books that he was distributing near schools and high schools in the city.
  The distribution of religious books or the incitement of Moroccans to change religion is severely punished by the Moroccan Penal Code in its Article 220, which punishes "anyone who uses means of (…)

• Former World Boxing Champ Sentenced in Morocco for Premarital Sex
  21 January 2019, by Said

  The former world boxing champion was sentenced last week to a one-month prison sentence under Article 490 of the Penal Code, which states that "persons of different sexes who, not being united by the bonds of marriage, have sexual relations between them are punished with imprisonment of one month to one year."
  This conviction follows, according to the newspaper Al Massae, a complaint from a woman with whom he would have had sexual relations after a promise of marriage. The latter would (…)

• Moroccan Teacher Arrested for Bigamy After Falsifying Documents
  20 February 2019, by Amine

  A Moroccan woman accused of contracting a new marriage while she was already married, was arrested on Friday by the police in Meknes.
  Just out of prison, the "first husband" filed a complaint, according to the daily Assabah. His wife would have remarried, without prior divorce, and would even have a child with the "second husband", an army officer. During her interrogation, the teacher admitted all the facts she was accused of.
  To contract this new union, the teacher preferred to (…)

• Moroccan Imam Arrested for Alleged Adultery Near Mosque
  4 July 2021, by Ginette

  An imam was arrested in the act of adultery. The incident took place last week in a mosque near Settat.
  The religious leader was arrested on Wednesday by gendarmerie elements, who caught him, along with a married woman, in a rather compromising position inside a vehicle. They were in a rather secluded area, away from prying eyes.
  The two lovers, caught in the act, were taken into custody and will be prosecuted for adultery.
  To read:
  The Moroccan Penal Code, in its Article 491, (…)

• Morocco Faces Calls to Reform Outdated Laws on Abortion and Extramarital Sex
  24 September 2019, by Bladi.net

  The legal proceedings for "debauchery" and "clandestine abortion" against Hajar Raïssouni, a 28-year-old journalist for the Arabic-language daily Akhbar Al-Yaoum, reflect the persistence of outdated legislation and the use of women as scapegoats in a country that claims to be modern. For the French newspaper Le Monde, the call of 470 Moroccans for the repeal of laws against abortion and extramarital sex is timely.
  Le Monde, in its editorial on the status of women and, to a large extent, (…)

• Moroccan Activists Challenge Law on Extramarital Sex and Abortion
  24 September 2019, by Ginette

  "Outlaws". This is the current status of the writer Leila Slimani and the filmmaker Sonia Terrab. Through a tribune signed by 490 Moroccan women and men in reference to Article 490 of the Penal Code, they are calling on the authorities and public opinion on the issue of individual freedoms, the decriminalization of extramarital sexual relations and abortion.
  The "Hajar Raïssouni" case continues to spread. Many Moroccans are speaking out on the issue of individual freedoms.
  This is the (…)