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Morocco court orders bank to cash cheque written in Tamazight

September 24, 2020 at 10:52 am

Women carrying a Moroccan (L) and an Amazigh flag (R) and flashing the three-finger Amazigh symbol during a sit-in on March 2, 2012 [ABDELHAK SENNA/AFP via Getty Images]

The Casablanca Commercial Court last week ordered a Moroccan bank to cash a cheque written in Tamazight language, local media reported.

According to news sites, the court ordered Credit du Maroc to pay a fine of 3,000 dirhams ($323) to the customer who was due to receive the funds after they were refused the because it was written in Tamazight, and a further fine of 1,000 dirhams ($108) to the person who issued the cheque.

The case was brought to the court last week by two people who filed a complaint against the bank for refusing to cash the cheque under the pretext that it was written in Tamazight language.

Tamazight became one of Morocco’s official languages in 2011, it is spoken by approximately one-third of the country’s population.

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