Morocco, Journalist Sentenced to One Year for Abortion and Premarital Affair

A month ago, we reported the detainment of Hajar Raissouni, correspondent for the independent news source Akhbar al-Yaoum.who was arrested together with her partner Amin Rifaat, a doctor, and his assistants outside a medical clinic in the capital city, Rabat.

Hajar was charged with having an abortion and premarital sex.

On 30 September, she was sentenced to one year in prison without bail.

In Morocco abortion is permitted if the wife’s health is at risk and only if the husband consents to it. Clearly, in the case of  Hajar and Amin this does not apply because according to the penal code they committed a crime within a crime.

Hajar claims she married her fiancée and that the delayed delivery of the documents from Sudan prevented  a prompt registration of the marriage certificate at the Moroccan registry office.

Obviously, Moroccan authorities deny that the unjust persecution against Hajar has anything to do with her work as a journalist. But many things suggest the opposite.

Hajar is Ahmed Raissouni’s niece, a renowned Islamist theologian and former head of the Movement of Unity and Reform (MUR), one of the most popular religious movements in Morocco.

The journalist is known for her articles criticizing the government. In May, she published a long interview with Nasser’s father Ahmed Zefzafi, leader of the protest movement Hirak El-Rif who is currently in prison.

In November 2018, the former Editor in Chief of Akhbar al-Yaoum, Taoufik Bouachrine, was sentenced to 12 years for political opposition.