In response to Jaques Bouthier’s release on supervision on Monday, the Moroccan Association for the Rights of Victims staged a protest in front of the French Embassy today in the capital Rabat.
Bouthier, former CEO of the Assu 2000 group, is accused in France of having set up a system that allowed him to abuse young underage girls, and has been indicted for rape of minors.
A group of about 20 members of the Moroccan association participated in the protest, in the presence of the press and police.
The protest was a statement of opposition to the court’s decision to release defendant Bouthier earlier this week, due to health concerns, which the court found to be “incompatible with continuous custody.”
Aicha Gelaa, the head of the Moroccan association for the Rights of Victims, and Abdelfattah Zahrach, the attorney representing the Women’s Victims Defense Committee against Jacques Bouthier, led the protest that took place this afternoon.
Protestors gathered in front of the French embassy’s gate, holding banners and pamphlets with slogans and demands of overturning the decision, denouncing the release of the rape-accused French national.
The group of protestors denounces the judge’s decision to grant a temporary release to the billionaire, accused of sexually assaulting numerous victims in both Morocco and France.
“The ruling contravenes what is included in the international agreements preserving the rights of the victims” and “threatens the security and dignity of the victims.” The French court system, to Gelaa, is encouraging of impunity through this decision.
The group requests that Bouthier be taken into custody and that law enforcement take action against this man who is accused of rape, the incarceration of a minor, and human trafficking.
“His arrest is a protection and rehabilitation to our woman victims who have been raped and were continuously offended by this abuser,” Gelaa said during the protest today.
“Bouthier should not be free; he belongs in jail. This is our message to the French judicial system No to impunity.”
This was the protesters’ main demand. ‘The court had all the necessary evidence to establish this man’s guilt, thus it is unacceptable. The man’s release on Monday is the finest illustration of how this case was tainted,” added Zahrach
The chairman of the association said today in the protest: “the suspect is to be a powerful man who is using his authority to manipulate the case and get away with it.” This provoked the anger of the victims and many Moroccan people.
The French billionaire businessman who owned insurance company ASSU based in Tangier is accused of serious multiple sexual crimes, by many French and Moroccan women.
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