Police on Wednesday arrested several people in a cafe in the megalopolis Casablanca suspected of not respecting the Ramadan fast, penalized by Moroccan law, local press reported.
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Customers and employees of the cafe, located in the center of Casablanca, were arrested, in the middle of a large public gathering of citizens
," reported the Hespress news site without specifying the number of those arrested.
Mixed reactions after police intervention
It was not possible to get more information about this operation from the police.
Web television Chouf TV broadcast a video showing police officers driving young girls and boys, one by one, coffee towards a police van.
In the crowd gathered around the scene, "
most welcomed the intervention of the police out of respect for the faith of Moroccans, while others denounced this intervention
", reported Hespress.
During the holy month of Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam, believers are asked to abstain from drinking, eating and having sex, from dawn until sunset.
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In Morocco, a country where Islam is the state religion, Article 222 of the Penal Code stipulates that breaking the fast in public is punishable by a prison sentence of up to six months.
Cases of arrests for breaking the fast have hit the headlines in recent years, much to the chagrin of a handful of activists who defend the right not to fast.