He targeted impoverished young Moroccan women. He lured them with false promises of marriage and legal papers to relocate to Europe.
When victims attempted to seek justice and filed police reports regarding the non-consensual sharing of their images, the legal system backfired. Moroccan law heavily criminalized acts of debauchery, extramarital sex, and posing for pornographic materials. Consequently, several of the exploited women were arrested and sentenced to prison terms, while Servaty initially returned to Belgium untouched. ⚖️ Legal Fallout and the Aftermath agadir morocco sex scandal belguel work
Following immense public pressure and advocacy by figures like Belgian Senator Fatiha Saïdi, Servaty resigned in disgrace from Le Soir and went into hiding after receiving death threats. Because the images were not considered illegal under standard Belgian adult pornography laws at the time, Belgian authorities initially declined to prosecute him on Moroccan counts. He targeted impoverished young Moroccan women
The scandal erupted when the digital footprint of Servaty’s "work" spilled over from the dark corners of the internet into the physical world. 1. CD-ROM Proliferation Because the images were not considered illegal under
Internet users in Morocco discovered the online images uploaded by Belguel. They burned the graphic files onto CD-ROMs and began selling them in local marketplaces across Agadir. 2. Social Ruin for the Victims
Many women fled Agadir entirely to escape local shame and harassment. 3. Institutional Paradox