Thousands of Moroccans signed an online manifesto today to protest a law criminalizing extramarital sex and abortion — a law that is often used as cover to prosecute and jail political dissidents. 

By 4 p.m. in Rabat, over 2,000 people, describing themselves as outlaws, had signed the declaration, which begins, “We are violating unfair and obsolete laws. We are having sex outside of wedlock.”

The collective protest came as Moroccan journalist Hajar Raissouni appeared in court alongside her fiance. The couple were arrested Aug. 31, days before the pair planned to get married, on charges that Raissouni had undergone an abortion. Also arrested were the gynecologist and his two assistants, all accused of complicity in her supposed abortion.

Raissouni faces up to two years in prison for having an abortion — which she denies — and for having sex with her Sudanese fiance. Her fellow defendants face between two and 10 years in prison for unlawfully terminating a pregnancy as well as complicity in this case, which has attracted fresh scrutiny to Morocco’s spotty human rights record. The doctor said he did not perform an abortion, but had saved the 28-year-old reporter's life after she suffered a blood clot.