San Francisco Frontiers - Morocco 'detains' employees of French tycoon accused in sex case

The employees appeared before the public prosecutor in the northern city of Tangiers earlier this week and a judge placed "five of them under a committal order", while the sixth was released, lawyer Karima Salama told AFP.

Bouthier, 75 and one of France's richest men, is ex-CEO of insurance group Assu2000, later renamed Vilavi.

He was indicted on May 21 and arrested by Paris prosecutors after a preliminary investigation into accusations of people trafficking and rape of a minor.

A Frenchman and five Moroccan suspects including two women are accused of "having recruited and psychologically groomed" women, said Salama, of the Moroccan Association for the Rights of Victims (AMDV).

"They also justified (Bouthier's) conduct," she said.

Several young Moroccan women filed a complaint against Bouthier last month, accusing him of various acts of "people trafficking, sexual harassment and verbal and moral violence" between 2018 and this year, according to Salama.

Some told a press conference at the time that they had faced repeated sexual harassment and intimidation as well as threats to their jobs, in a city where many struggle to find work.

The women said they had been sacked after refusing to "give in to harassment and blackmail" over their employment by Bouthier and other French and Moroccan executives.

Such public declarations are rare in Morocco, where sexual abuse victims often face social stigma.

AMDV appealed on Friday for any other victims to "break the wall of fear and actively be part of the fight against impunity for people who have gravely harmed their dignity as women".

Bouthier is also being prosecuted in France for conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping in an organised gang and possession of child pornography.

V.Perez--SFF