Three schoolchildren aged 14 and 15 have been arrested and placed in juvenile detention after one of them posted a photograph of the other two kissing on Facebook.
The couple had their friend take the photograph outside their school in the north-east Moroccan town of Nador. A local newspaper printed the photo, sparking public outrage in the deeply conservative 99 per cent Muslim nation. Police acted to arrest the couple and their friend in response to complaints from the public.
Supporters of the teenagers have staged a sit-in at the juvenile detention centre in which they are being held, while others have posted their own similar photographs in response to a lead taken by Ibtissame Lachgar, co-founder of the Alternative Movement for Individual Liberties (MALI), who has launched a campaign to post one million copycat photos online in protest. She has uploaded a photo of herself kissing a male fellow activist.
The three are due to appear before a juvenile court next week charged with violating public decency.
