Moroccan king pardons journalist jailed for having an abortion

Moroccan king pardons journalist jailed for having an abortion

Issued on: 16/10/2019
Text by: NEWS WIRES
Video by: Nicolas RUSWORTH

Morocco’s king has pardoned Hajar Raissouni, a journalist sentenced to a year in prison last month for extramarital sex and an abortion, along with her fiance, a doctor and two of his colleagues, the justice ministry said on Wednesday.
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The case of Raissouni, who had denied the charges against her, outraged human rights activists who said she had been targeted for her work for a newspaper that has criticised the state, and because she is the niece of a prominent Islamist.

Continued: https://www.france24.com/en/20191016-moroccan-king-pardons-journalist-jailed-for-having-an-abortion

16.10.2019

Moroccan Association for Abortion Rights

Moroccan court jails journalist on abortion charge that she denies

Moroccan court jails journalist on abortion charge that she denies

Ahmed Eljechtimi
September 30, 2019

RABAT (Reuters) - A Moroccan court on Monday sentenced a journalist to a year in prison for sex outside marriage and having an abortion, both of which she denied, in a case that has outraged rights activists, who say the charges are politically motivated.

Police arrested Hajar Raissouni, 28, on Aug. 31 along with her fiancé as they were leaving a gynecologists clinic in Rabat.

Continued: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-morocco-trial/moroccan-court-jails-journalist-on-abortion-charge-that-she-denies-idUSKBN1WF22T

Morocco – Who Gets Arrested for Having an Abortion?

Who Gets Arrested for Having an Abortion?
Laws that criminalize “immoral” behavior in Morocco and elsewhere aren’t about ethics. They’re tools for state control.

By Ursula Lindsey
Sept. 25, 2019

On Aug. 31, six plainclothes policemen arrested a woman named Hajar Raissouni outside the office of her obstetrician-gynecologist in Morocco’s capital, Rabat. She was detained along with her fiancé, her doctor, his anesthesiologist and his secretary. Her doctor was compelled to hand over her medical records while Ms. Raissouni was forced to undergo a medical examination and to answer questions about her sex life.

Ms. Raissouni, a 28-year-old journalist from a politically active family, is now on trial for having an abortion and for having sex outside of marriage. Both are crimes under Morocco’s penal code, and she faces up to two years in jail; her doctor also faces jail time. Ms. Raissouni’s defense maintains that there was no abortion and that the medical reports presented by the prosecution are false.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/25/opinion/hajar-raissouni-arrest.html

25.09.2019

Moroccan activists denounce arrest of journalist on abortion charges

Moroccan activists denounce arrest of journalist on abortion charges

Reuters
Sep 10, 2019

RABAT – Moroccan rights activists on Monday demanded the release of a journalist facing trial on charges of abortion and sex outside marriage, saying her arrest was politically motivated.

Dozens of activists staged a sit-in outside the Rabat court before the first hearing in her trial, chanting: “What a shame freedoms are in danger, what a shame journalism is in danger.

Continued: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/09/10/world/social-issues-world/moroccan-activists-denounce-arrest-journalist-abortion-charges/#.XXgFZ2Z7lPY