Brazilian influencer and bikini model Liziane Gutierrez recently faced a distressing ordeal in Morocco, where a series of misunderstandings and false accusations turned her trip into a nightmare. Known for her bold personality and a prior legal battle with rapper Chris Brown, Gutierrez has shared her harrowing experience, exposing the challenges she endured during her arrest and subsequent imprisonment in Marrakesh.
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The incident began on October 30 when Gutierrez’s bag was stolen outside her hotel in Marrakesh. The bag contained her phone and her husband’s work phone, prompting the couple to use GPS tracking in an attempt to recover the devices. When one of the stolen phones pinged a location, they sought help from local police. However, language barriers—neither of them spoke Arabic or French—complicated their efforts. Frustrated with the officers’ lack of response, Gutierrez resorted to recording the interaction to highlight the indifference she encountered. This decision led to her and her husband being handcuffed and taken to the police station.
While her husband was released after agreeing to hand over his phone’s password, Gutierrez’s situation worsened. Accused of being transgender, she was subjected to a humiliating genital inspection by two male and two female officers. The invasive procedure was intended to confirm her gender before admitting her to a women’s prison. “I never felt so humiliated in my life,” she recounted, describing the experience as deeply traumatizing. “They were looking up inside me like a doctor or whatever, and I was just crying.”
After being deemed a cisgender woman, Gutierrez was transferred to a women’s prison. However, the conditions she faced were shocking. Initially placed in a holding facility, she was crammed into a small room meant for ten people, but overcrowded with twenty. The room was infested with bugs and flies, poorly ventilated, and filled with smoke from detainees. After a day and a half, she was moved to a larger prison, where the conditions remained dire. Overcrowding persisted, detainees slept on the floor, and the bathroom was nothing more than a hole in the ground. Food was scarce, consisting of a single serving of bread each day, while temperatures fluctuated between extreme heat and cold.
Gutierrez described the experience as the worst of her life, surpassing even her travels to North Korea and war-torn Ukraine. “I know that I’m not an easy person to deal with, but at that time, I did nothing wrong. I was just trying to get help,” she explained. Her frustration stemmed from the lack of resources to communicate and seek assistance in a foreign country. Reflecting on her ordeal, she stated, “I would rather go to North Korea ten times again than return to Morocco. I was more respected in North Korea than in Morocco.”
The incident highlights the challenges faced by travelers navigating unfamiliar legal systems and cultural norms. Gutierrez’s decision to record the officers’ inaction, while well-intentioned, escalated into a life-altering series of events. Her story is a stark reminder of the importance of understanding local laws and customs when traveling abroad, particularly in regions with significantly different legal frameworks.
As Gutierrez resumes her life, her experience serves as a cautionary tale for international travelers and underscores the need for cultural awareness, empathy, and better communication in today’s interconnected world. Her ordeal also raises broader questions about the treatment of detainees and the rights of individuals in vulnerable situations, shedding light on systemic issues that transcend borders.
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