Moroccan women 'freed' over wearing skirts in Inezgane

People protested outside the court ahead of the trial earlier in this month

Two Moroccan women have been acquitted of indecency charges after they went on trial for wearing short skirts, their lawyer says.

They were arrested on 16 June in a market in Inezgane, near Agadir, after being heckled by market traders.

Their case sparked a national outcry and an internet petition calling the arrest an attack on personal freedom attracted thousands of signatures.

Hundreds of lawyers offered to defend the women in court.

Women's rights campaigner Fouzia Assouli told the AFP news agency the acquittal showed that wearing a skirt "is not a crime".

Moroccan news site Tel Quel quotes the women's lawyer, Houcine Bekkar Sbai, as saying that the next step is to prosecute the people who harassed them in the market.