In Morocco, the verdict was eagerly awaited and it lived up to the anger of civil society. The 3 men, sentenced at first instance to sentences ranging from 18 to 24 months in prison for the rapes of an 11-year-old girl, this time received ten years for two of them and twenty years for the main one. accused. An appeal trial that lasted only one day.
With our correspondent in Rabat, Victor Mauriat
The appeal procedure was triggered only ten days after the verdict at first instance. From the start of the day on Thursday, the lawyers for the civil party asked that the procedure go quickly, “ we know the facts they assured the judge, “ the law must now be enforced “. At the Rabat courthouse, the case was settled in two hearings, and the verdict was delivered around 2 a.m., reports our lawyer in Rabat, Victor Mauriat.
If the Club of Magistrates of Morocco considers that this speed is due to the speaking of the minister in charge Abdellatif Ouahbi – some magistrates had also criticized the Minister of Justice for being expressed on the case, taking the risk to influence her-, Maître Chaoui, one of the little girl’s lawyers, welcomes the mobilization of civil society. ” I think that the mobilization of civil society, and the mobilization in society too, have something to do with it, if only in the speed of the procedure between the judgment at first instance and today, which would be the day judgment for the appeal. I think the media pressure and societal pressure had an effect. »
Despite the numerous requests for suspensions made by the lawyers of both parties, the judge wanted to conclude the trial as quickly as possible, and the exemplary sentence imposed sends a strong signal, believes Ghizlaine Mamouni, president of the Kif Mama Kif Baba association for gender equality. ” This is a big step forward from the first instance decision. The message is still there to say that in Morocco, little Moroccan girls are not raped with impunity.. »
Facing the court, the defendants had denied any relationship with little Sanaa, despite the presence of a DNA test identifying one of them as the father of the child that the little girl gave birth to the year last.
The only disappointment for the civil party, the judge’s refusal to reclassify the facts as rape with forcible confinement, the three men were all convicted of indecent assault on a minor.