Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi has decided to empower individual liberties after the impotency of former ministers

Assabah daily has disclosed in its issue of Thursday, June 16, 2022 that Mr. Abdellatif Ouahbi, Minister of Justice and Liberties, has decided to empower individual freedoms, following the impotency of former ministers to defend those liberties, including former minister Mustapha Ramid, Mohamed Aoujjar, an RNI leader and even Mohamed Ben Abdelkader a leader in USFP.

The Moroccan daily added that Minister Ouahbi is seen as the hope for supporters of individual liberties since he has decided to change the core of penal code and set up other more secular regulations which are convenient with a large category of Moroccans. Among the most important changes in this regard, said the newspaper, is the revocation of chapter 490 which prohibits consensual sexual relationship between men and women adults; Minister Ouahbi has proposed to limit prosecution in flagrancy in public spaces or manifestation of the act by a video, so as to bring national law to be in accordance with the constitution and with specific international agreements.

The newspaper has revealed that Ouahbi’s statements have made him the target of much criticism especially from those who refuse individual liberties for secularism purposes; and this is what has pushed defenders of the revocation of chapter 490 of penal code, about “extra marriage relationships between man and women seen as an adultery and so be punished by one year imprisonment”, to come out of silence and consider that the justice system in Morocco is suffering from some problems including the overcrowding of jails and so regarding consensual sexual relationships between adults, there is no victims, consequently in this case prisons do not fulfill their fundamental mission.

In the same context, defenders of that chapter have considered that Moroccan penal code especially what concerns body freedom which has not changed since 1961; yet condemnation continues to reach all adult citizens who establish consensual sexual relationship, and also victims of sexual violence. That law was exploited to punish disturbing citizens either due to their opinion or their way of living , and so chapter 490 is exploited to settle some personal scores and the matter may be the result of a of jealous divorcee or curious neighbor or a guard, since it is a unspecific chapter and not subject to interpretation.