Five Years in Prison for Renouncing Moroccan Nationality – Motive

In Morocco, human rights are trampled. People are discriminated against, abused, and mistreated based on their background, social class, gender, etc. Arrests occur daily, and people are kidnapped. Assassinations and sham trials seem to be the regime s only response to any voice of opposition.
On October 24, 2024, the Moroccan-American Mr. Fouad Abdenabi was immediately arrested upon arrival at Casablanca International Airport and tortured. On the same day, he was interrogated by the Moroccan secret service under investigation file 2405. He had traveled from the United States to Morocco to visit his elderly and ill mother.
However, the Moroccan secret service had flagged him as a suspect on a wanted list. Mr. Abdenabi, born on January 1, 1970, in Taza (Morocco), lives with his family in North Carolina, United States. Between 2017 and 2024, he had not been in Morocco.
On October 31, 2024, he was brought before a judge for his first hearing, under interrogation report number 354 and case file number 433/2103/202. The charges against him were based on posts from his alleged Facebook page, in which he was said to have expressed a desire to renounce his Moroccan nationality. He was also accused of insulting the symbols of the kingdom and expressing support for the independence of the people of Western Sahara.
Fouad Abdenabi denied all these accusations. He stated that he is not an activist´-or-opponent of the Moroccan regime and that he does not even have a Facebook page. According to him, there are dozens of Facebook pages with the same name as his, which are easy to find with a simple search. He did acknowledge that in 2021 he had considered renouncing his Moroccan nationality, but he had never submitted an official request for this to any Moroccan authority.
Nevertheless, he was prosecuted under Articles 299-1, 267-1, and 267-5 of the Moroccan Penal Code. He was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 100,000 -dir-hams (approximately ten thousand euros).
Despite his continued denial and declaration of innocence, he appealed the verdict of the court of first instance. The first hearing of the appeal court took place on January 16, 2025, under case number 3853/2301/2024, in courtroom eight in Casablanca. On January 21, 2025, the court confirmed the verdict of the court of first instance. Thus, Mr. Fouad Abdenabi was definitively sentenced to the same punishment: five years in prison and a fine of 100,000 -dir-hams. Additionally, he must pay all legal costs. He thus became the first prisoner convicted for the motive of renouncing Moroccan nationality.
What almost no one knows is that the Moroccan law (code de la nationalité), the nationality code, in Article 19, states that you can renounce your Moroccan nationality if another country where you reside requires it. It also says: if you hold a sensitive position in another country, then you are allowed to renounce your Moroccan nationality.
About one-tenth of Morocco s population is currently in the EU as emigrants. That is by far the highest emigration rate among North African countries. This migration flow began as early as 1945, from Morocco to France, where by the early 1960s the Moroccan migrant population had grown to 53,000. Moroccan migration became massive in the 1960s, with low-skilled ‘guest workers’ from the Rif region, after Hassan II signed migration contracts with France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands to get rid of rebellious Berbers. Soon, illegal migration outpaced legal migration. In 1992, there were about a million Moroccans in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and France. That is now the number in France alone. More than four hundred thousand Moroccans live in Spain, and more than three hundred thousand each in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy.
According to Dutch law, you are not allowed to hold any other nationality alongside Dutch nationality. Anyone acquiring Dutch nationality must renounce their previous nationality. The website of the Ministry of Justice explains how to do this: once the renunciation process is complete, you receive an official declaration from the authorities of your country. You send this statement to the IND. If you do not renounce, and you are required to do so, the IND can revoke your Dutch nationality. The Netherlands thus has a renunciation obligation. This is literally found on the Dutch government s website, which aims to-limit- dual nationality as much as possible: “If you have more than one nationality, your rights are not always clear. For example, you may be required to perform military service in your country of origin. The Dutch government wants to-limit- dual nationality as much as possible. Your rights are then clearer. That is why you are required to renounce your original nationality upon naturalization, if that is possible.”
If that is possible. And that’s where the problems begin. Because it adds that there are exceptions: in some countries, you automatically obtain the nationality of the country where you are born. Each country also determines for itself when someone loses their nationality. For citizens from, for example, Greece´-or-Iran, it is legally impossible to renounce their nationality. In Morocco, renunciation is not accepted in practice.
Clause to get rid of your Moroccan nationality:
The above formulation is interesting. It does not say that it is legally impossible to renounce your Moroccan nationality. It says that it is not accepted in practice. That is something different. And that is indeed the case. Moroccan law certainly offers the possibility to renounce your Moroccan nationality. That possibility is found in the so-called code de la nationalité marocaine, the Moroccan nationality law, which is implemented by the Ministère de la Justice et des Libertés, the Moroccan Ministry of Justice.
Chapter IV, Article 19 deals with cases of loss´-or-forfeiture of Moroccan nationality (Cas de perte de la nationalité et de la déchéance).
Lid 1:
“Le Marocain majeur qui a acquis volontairement à l’étranger une nationalité étrangère et est autorisé par décret à renoncer à la nationalité marocaine.”
In translation: The adult Moroccan who has voluntarily acquired a foreign nationality abroad is authorized by decree to renounce Moroccan nationality.
Every adult Moroccan with dual nationality thus, in principle, has the right to renounce their Moroccan nationality.
But there is a catch, because it says “par décret.” That means: after a decree (decision) from the king.
If the king does not give approval, it does not proceed. That makes it difficult, but it can also simplify things. No change in the law is needed. A royal decree is sufficient. The same king who grants mass pardons to criminals in prison when it suits him. The same king who may also be sensitive to pressure from the Netherlands´-or-the EU, his trade partner on whom he is completely dependent.
Article 19 also covers other cases of loss of Moroccan nationality. For example, for minors.
Lid 2:
“Le Marocain, même mineur, qui ayant une nationalité étrangère d’origine est autorisé par décret à renoncer à la nationalité marocaine.”
So: the minor Moroccan who possesses a foreign nationality by origin is authorized by decree to renounce Moroccan nationality.
Also, a Moroccan woman who marries a foreigner can, by decree of the king, even before the marriage is concluded, renounce her Moroccan nationality:
“La femme marocaine qui épousant un étranger, acquiert, du fait de son mariage, la nationalité du mari et a été autorisée par décret préalablement à la conclusion du mariage, à renoncer à la nationalité marocaine.”
In translation: The Moroccan woman who marries a foreigner and, by doing so, acquires her husband’s nationality, is authorized by decree, prior to the marriage, to renounce her Moroccan nationality.
It is also interesting that under Moroccan law, it can be seen as a problem if a Moroccan with another nationality holds a public position in another country´-or-serves in a foreign military. In such a case, the Moroccan government can order that the Moroccan step down from the position, and if they have not done so within six months, he´-or-she loses Moroccan nationality!
This could apply to Moroccan mayors in the Netherlands, a Moroccan Speaker of Parliament,´-or-a Moroccan in the Dutch military.
The Code de la nationalité marocaine literally says about these people:
“Le Marocain qui, remplissant une mission ou occupant un emploi dans un service public d’un Etat étranger ou dans une armée étrangère, le conserve plus de six mois après l’injonction qui lui aura été faite par le gouvernement marocain de le résigner, lorsque ladite mission ou emploi est contraire à l’intérêt national” [perd la nationalité marocaine].
In translation: The Moroccan who, while holding a mission´-or-employment in a public service of a foreign state´-or-a foreign army, remains in this position more than six months after being ordered by the Moroccan government to resign from it, when said mission´-or-employment is contrary to the national interest [loses Moroccan nationality].
There are also special provisions in Moroccan nationality law for children born abroad. That is, when the father has a foreign nationality and the mother has Moroccan nationality.
Because even in a mixed marriage, the Moroccan king automatically considers the children of that marriage as children with Moroccan nationality. And their children too. And so on.
If it is up to the king, you remain Moroccan from generation to generation, for all eternity.
This allégeance perpétuelle, the perpetual allegiance to the homeland, comes from an old treaty Morocco signed in 1880 with several colonial powers-;- the provision is included in the Moroccan Constitution.
In some cases, something can be done about it. The child of a Moroccan mother can submit a request for “loss of Moroccan nationality.”
But this is subject to specific conditions. It states:
“L’enfant issu d’un mariage mixte et considéré marocain du fait de sa naissance d’une mère marocaine peut exprimer sa volonté de conserver uniquement la nationalité de l’un de ses parents par déclaration présentée au ministre de la justice entre sa dix-huitième et sa vingtième année.”
In translation: The child from a mixed marriage considered Moroccan due to birth from a Moroccan mother may express the desire to retain only the nationality of one of the parents by declaration submitted to the Ministry of Justice between their 18th and 20th year.
The mother can also submit such a request:
“La mère marocaine d’un enfant issu d’un mariage mixte, considéré marocain du fait de sa naissance d’une mère marocaine peut, avant la majorité de l’enfant, exprimer, par déclaration présentée au ministre de la justice, sa volonté pour que celui-ci conserve la nationalité de l’un de ses parents.”
In Dutch: The Moroccan mother of a child from a mixed marriage, considered Moroccan because the mother is Moroccan, can, before the child reaches legal age, express her desire to the Ministry of Justice that the child retain the nationality of one of the parents.
But then the child can reverse the wish of their Moroccan mother again.
So the Moroccan law does everything it can to keep as many migrant children "on board" as possible:
“L’intéressé peut demander de renoncer à la déclaration de sa mère aux fins de conserver la nationalité de l’un de ses parents et ce, par déclaration présentée au ministre de la justice entre sa dix-huitième et sa vingtième année. La conservation de la nationalité prend effet à compter de la date de la déclaration présentée valablement par l’intéressé ou par sa mère.”
In other words: The person concerned can request to renounce the declaration of his mother in order to retain the nationality of one of the parents by declaration submitted to the Ministry of Justice, between the 18th and 20th year. The retention of nationality takes effect from the date of the declaration validly submitted by the person concerned´-or-by his mother.
But yes! Under a dictatorial regime like Morocco s, the law simply becomes a façade.
Ali Lahrouchi

Author of the book The Struggle for Liberation: In the Grip of the Moroccan Government, Secret Services and Islam

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