A Moroccan court acquitted two women who faced charges of “gross indecency” for wearing dresses in public, their lawyer said on Monday, after their case sparked a national outcry. “This is a victory not only for these two women but for all members of civil society who mobilised,” said defence attorney Houcine Bekkar Sbai.
Fouzia Assouli, head of the LDDF women’s rights organisation, confirmed the acquittals handed down by a court in the southern city of Agadir.
The women, hairdressers aged 23 and 29, were arrested on June 16 as they strolled through the open-air market in Inezgane, a suburb of Agadir, on their way to work, Merchants accused them of wearing flimsy and “immoral” clothes, surrounded and heckled them, media reported at the time.
Police intervened to wrest them away from the angry crowd but then drove them to a police station where they were charged with gross indecency.
