Moroccan boxer Hassan Saada said that he suffered a lot from being charged with sexual harassment and attempting to rape two cleaning women ahead of the Olympics, which Brazil hosted in August.

He added, in a statement to “Arabs Today”, that the sense of injustice made him suffer a lot, after spending weeks behind bars on charges of which he was completely innocent. He added, “The same suffering continued after his release because he was not allowed to leave the city of Rio Deganero in compliance with the terms of the interim release granted him by the Tribunal.”

He stressed, “I have lived through a difficult period despite my full confidence in my innocence but the law believes in other things, but by faith you can go beyond any crisis you can live.”

He praised the role performed by both the Moroccan National Olympic Committee and the Moroccan Boxing Federation, saying that they were keen to support him during the crisis and to exert their efforts to enable them to leave Brazil. He said that they made all possible and impossible attempts to persuade the judge to authorize him to leave Rio de Janeiro.

The Moroccan athlete expressed his readiness to to start training immediately to recover all of his technical and physical abilities to return to the ring as soon as possible. He praised the increasing support he received from the Moroccan National Olympic Committee and from his family and friends during the crisis.