Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi is planning to change citizens’ misdemeanor and criminal behaviors

Assabah daily of Thursday, June 16, 2022 reported that Minister of Justice, Mr. Abdellatif Ouahbi has recently made several statements that have brought something like hope to defenders of liberties in Morocco, and who have called for ending with a number of “outdated and obsolete” laws and restrictions.

Assabah added in its report that Ouahbi said in one of his statements that he is planning to bring in broad change in the system of laws that criminalize citizens’ behaviors, both misdemeanor and criminal acts, such as wine consumption, adding that the Minister has expressed his astonishment towards punishing wine consumers when at the same time they pay taxes on wine, “this is craziness”; the state, Ouahbi continued, has to choose between banning wine consumption and not collecting taxes, or accepting the responsible individual’ s freedom to consume wine and pay taxes.

The Moroccan daily report said that Ouahbi has expressed his astonishment for prosecuting person at hotels, in a reference to keeping track of man and woman and asking them for marriage contract before booking a hotel room, under the pretext of prosecuting them for committing adultery or moral corruption, or even pursuing them in houses, considering that if some regulations continue like that, then persons will be asked how many times they have prayed at home?, referring to the situation with (former Islamist government) and that he will not continue in their footsteps but will go forehead to establish secular regulations in confrontation with the Justice Ministry conservative and masculine administration and which enacts law with traditional mentality.

The same daily has disclosed that the Minister has set up a plan to cure drug-addicted persons, by establishing options in sentences, either to be referred to anti-addiction centers, or go to jail without medical treatment, with the emphasis on the first option; since it has become clear that some addicted persons who went to jail for personal use of drugs have become addicted on other hard drugs and so punishment was useless.

The daily has concluded that Ouahbi’s decision to withdraw penal code bill from the House of Representatives was not arbitrary, but that he was expecting a better penal code and more convenient with his vision of society, confirming that he fully assumes his political and institutional responsibility for withdrawing that bill.