Morocco Considers Electronic Bracelets as Alternative to Jail for Minor Offenses

The decriminalization of the issuance of bounced checks, the consumption of alcohol, is a concern for Abdellatif Ouahbi. During his participation in a seminar organized on May 31 by the Lafquih Tetouani Foundation, he highlighted the existing contradictions in the criminalization of certain offenses such as the consumption of alcoholic beverages, reports the Arabic-language daily Assabah. According to the minister, it is absurd to forbid the Moroccan to drink alcohol while asking him to pay the tax on his consumption.

Abdellatif Ouahbi therefore proposed the adoption of the electronic bracelet as an alternative to prison, particularly for individuals and business leaders convicted of issuing bounced checks, consuming alcohol. He supported his proposal by the fact that people serving a sentence of two years or less represent 47% of convicts, while Morocco is seeking to end prison overcrowding. The minister also proposed the imposition of community service or the electronic bracelet instead of imprisonment for minors.

It should be noted that the preliminary draft of the new Penal Code to be promulgated provides for new measures to put an end to the increase in the number of people in pre-trial detention through the implementation of the electronic bracelet.