very heavy sentences on appeal for the three defendants

The verdict in the first instance had outraged public opinion by its clemency. The Court of Appeal of Rabat (Morocco) increased, on the night of Thursday April 13 to Friday April 14, the sentences of three men accused of repeatedly raping a young girl. One of the defendants was sentenced to 20 years in prison and the other two to 10 years each. On March 20, one of the men was sentenced to two years in prison, the other two to 18 months.

Sanae, an 11-year-old minor at the time of the incident and who is 12 today, “suffered repeated rapes under threat”, in a village near Rabat, which resulted in a pregnancy, according to women’s rights NGOs. Sanae became the mother of a child aged one year and one month today.

An appeal in cassation considered

As in the first instance, the three men were prosecuted on appeal for “misappropriation of a minor” and “indecent assault on a minor with violence”. The defendants, aged 25, 32 and 37, faced up to 30 years in prison, according to the Moroccan penal code. Their sentences were accompanied by damages of a total of 140,000 dirhams (more than 12,500 euros) while in the first instance, they had been ordered to pay a total of 50,000 dirhams (i.e. 4,500 euros).

Faced with questions from the judge, the prosecution and the civil party, the three defendants denied in block. One of them, confronted with the DNA test which proves that he is the biological father of Sanae’s child, simply repeated: “I don’t know.” For her part, Sanae “reiterated his testimony” before the court, lawyer Mohamed Sebbar told AFP.

“We are satisfied with the verdict which brought justice to the victim, that said we did not understand why two defendants received only 10 years each”Abdelfattah Zahrach, another lawyer for Sanae, told AFP on leaving the court, adding that he is considering an appeal. “after consultation with the family”.