Two prominent Islamic politicians have been suspended from Morocco’s Unity and Reform Movement (MUR) after they were allegedly caught having sex in a car on a beach.
Moulay Omar Benhammad, 63, and Fatima Nejjar, 62, had previously preached the importance of chastity and were both serving as vice presidents of the party.
Police said the pair were found in a “sexual position” in a car, the New York Post reports.
The incident is said to have occurred on Saturday at a beach in the port city of Mohammedia, about 16 miles north of Casablanca and 40 miles south of the Moroccan capital, Rabat.
Mr Benhammad, who is married and has seven children, was charged with attempted corruption. Ms Nejjar, a widowed mother of six, was charged with complicity to adultery.
The pair were released from custody and are due to appear in court on 1 September.
Religious movement MUR is part of another, more prominent party in the country, the Justice Development Party (PJD).
MUR released a statement on Monday saying the pair had been “suspended from all structures of the movement”, while party officials from PJD said the incident was an “extremely serious fault” that amounted to a “violation of the principles of the movement, its orientation and its values”, Middle East Eye reports.
Mr Benhammad reportedly said he lives with Ms Najjar in a common-law marriage and added that his wife does not want him prosecuted for adultery.
Extramarital sex in Morocco in punishable by up to a year in jail.
Following the incident, videos of Ms Nejjar telling female students not to give in to “temptation and vice” have been widely shared on social media.
Meanwhile, others said the incident was a “conspiracy” taking aim at the MUR and PJD ahead of legislative elections forecast for October.
