They judge a Moroccan journalist for having "out of wedlock" sex and an abortion

Hajar Raissouni He is 28 years old. Last Saturday, she was leaving a clinic in Rabat, Morocco, when police arrested her. They also arrested their doctor, a nurse, a professional secretary and finally the boyfriend of the young woman with whom He was to be married on September 14th.

The woman faces the possibility of pbading two years in prisonfrom Morocco penalizes abortion when the life of the mother is not in danger. According to his lawyer Saad Sehli, the accusation is absurd and false: Hajar was being treated for internal bleeding and his defender intends to prove in court, with medical evidence to support, that in reality It was a possible miscarriage.

"It's a medical procedure and we have a medical report that says there is no induced abortion." There may be a spontaneous abortion and this is not the case. not a crime, I will ask for the release of Hajar Raissouni, "he said.

But the case goes beyond a supposed "moral" problem. Hajar Raissouni works for the newspaper Akhbar Al-Yaum and is the niece of a very critical power columnist, as well as an ultra-conservative Islamist ideologue. For the human rights badociations and for a large part of their colleagues, their detention, like these, it's a new manifestation of a disastrous climate intended to silence dissenting voices.

"We have witnessed a proliferation of cases involving journalists, defendants and sometimes convicted persons, but not in accordance with the Press Code for their writings, but in accordance with the Penal Code for violating morals and good customs , and sometimes for the apology of terrorism ", says the director of the site of information Yabiladi.comMohammed Ezzouak

"The case Hajar Raissouni is for many human rights activists and many journalists the case n a form of harbadment, tension, tension, vis-à-vis journalists and the media, "says Ezzouak.

But according to him, it is also a brutal attack on women's rights: "The emotion was strong, especially among the many women who felt, in their flesh, the injustice and humiliation inflicted on this young journalist So the case of Hajar mobilize beyond traditional circles defense of freedom of expression in Morocco ".