Sep 23, 2019

Thousands of Moroccans signed an online manifesto today to protest a law criminalizing extramarital sex and abortion — a law that is often used as cover to prosecute and jail political dissidents.

By 4 p.m. in Rabat, over 2,000 people, describing themselves as outlaws, had signed the declaration, which begins, “We are violating unfair and obsolete laws. We are having sex outside of wedlock.”

The collective protest came as Moroccan journalist Hajar Raissouni appeared in court alongside her fiance. The couple were arrested Aug. 31, days before the pair planned to get married, on charges that Raissouni had undergone an abortion. Also arrested were the gynecologist and his two assistants, all accused of complicity in her supposed abortion.

Raissouni faces up to two years in prison for having an abortion — which she denies — and for having sex with her Sudanese fiance. Her fellow defendants face between two and 10 years in prison for unlawfully terminating a pregnancy as well as complicity in this case, which has attracted fresh scrutiny to Morocco’s spotty human rights record. The doctor said he did not perform an abortion, but had saved the 28-year-old reporter's life after she suffered a blood clot.

Sonia Terrab, a Moroccan film director, co-sponsored the manifesto. Her acclaimed documentary “Marrokiat” chronicled sexual harassment, homophobia and other abuses in a series of street interviews. “It's crazy, the signatures keep pouring in," she said. "The majority are women, but there are some men, too, who are supporting it because in case of adultery or extramarital sex they get imprisoned as well." She added, “Women suffer far more, however, because when a woman is condemned, no one will talk to her or touch her. Every day somebody is getting arrested for loving someone.”