Documentary record Bound by Fear
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Conviction Islamic institutions and contexts Quranic-school and daara systems Zaouiat Sidi Bilal, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco · 2025

Morocco: Ouarzazate-area mosque imam convicted after confessing to abusing girls in Quran lessons

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

imam at a mosque in Zaouiat Sidi Bilal, near Ouarzazate

Organization

mosque, Zaouiat Sidi Bilal, near Ouarzazate

Spiritual nexus

The girls attended the mosque specifically for Quran lessons under the imam's religious instruction; that role is what put them in his unsupervised care.

  • Pastoral or clerical authority
  • Guru or spiritual-teacher authority

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2025-02-21 · criminal conviction and sentence

    criminal court, Ouarzazate Province, Morocco. The imam of a mosque in Zaouiat Sidi Bilal confessed to all charges of sexually abusing underage girls who attended Quran lessons at the mosque and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. He had previously been acquitted of similar allegations for insufficient evidence; new witnesses and victims, along with pornographic images found on his phone, led to this conviction.

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • religious authority over underage girls attending Quran lessons at the mosque
  • custodial access during religious instruction

Primary record

Sources

diaspora press court reporting sentencing report Marokko Nieuws, 'Imam in Ouarzazate veroordeeld tot vijf jaar cel voor misbruik' [Imam in Ouarzazate sentenced to five years for abuse] (21 Feb. 2025).

Reports the mosque location, the imam's confession, the underage girls' attendance at Quran lessons, the five-year sentence, the prior acquittal, and the pornographic images found on his phone.

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