The verdict comes after the appeal of the ruling in the first instance, which unleashed a wave of indignation in the country
MADRID, 14 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A court in Morocco has sentenced three men accused of raping an eleven-year-old girl to between ten and 20 years in prison, after the outrage unleashed in the African country after the defendants were sentenced in the first instance to prison terms. between 18 and 24 months in prison.
The sentence in the first instance provoked protests in the country and even a collection of signatures to demand the repetition of the trial, something that finally took place after the appeal presented by the victim’s lawyers, who had also demanded that the defendants be tried for rape, something rejected by the court.
Thus, two of the defendants have received a sentence of ten years in prison and another a sentence of 20 years in prison for “indecent assault with violence against a minor”, who became pregnant after the sexual assaults to which she was subjected in the town Tiflet, on the outskirts of the capital, Rabat.
“We know the facts. We only need to apply the law,” said the judge in the case, Sifedín Rabu, as reported by the Moroccan newspaper ‘Le Matin’. For his part, one of the victim’s lawyers applauded the “mobilization of civil society” after the first sentences and stressed that “media and social pressure have achieved their effect.”
Likewise, it has indicated that the verdict “is satisfactory”, although it has stressed that “it does not believe that the girl can resume a normal life, also taking into account that she has had a child.” “She is a girl who has brought another child into the world,” lamented the lawyer.
For their part, the defendants have once again denied having raped the girl, identified as Sanaa and now twelve years old, despite the existence of a DNA test that identifies one of them as the father of the child who gave birth to the last year after being raped.
Various associations that have mobilized around the case have argued that the verdict could establish jurisprudence for future similar cases in Morocco. “We hope that this case will be an example for other processes and I hope that the magistrates take into account the pain and suffering of the victims,” said Amin Khalid, general secretary of the National Institute of Solidarity with Women in Difficulty (INSAF).
The main accused has also been sentenced to pay 60,000 dirhams (about 5,365 euros) in damages, while the other convicted must pay 40,000 dirhams (about 3,575 euros) in this same concept. The convicted now have ten days to file a new appeal before the Court of Cassation, as reported by the Moroccan news portal Le360.