Malika Oufkir is the eldest daughter of
Mohamed Oufkir. She was born in
Marrakesh on 2 April 1953. Her siblings are Abdellatif, Myriam (Mimi), Maria, Soukaina, and Raouf. General Mohamed Oufkir was the interior minister, minister of defense, and the chief of the armed forces of Morocco. He was greatly trusted by King
Hassan II (and the most powerful figure in Morocco after the King) during the 1960s and early 1970s in Morocco. After attempting to assassinate the King and a Moroccan delegation returning from France on a
Boeing 727 jet in a
coup d'état in 1972, General Oufkir died with several bullet wounds on his body, but his death was claimed to be a suicide. Malika Oufkir and her family were initially confined to house arrest in the south of Morocco from 1973 to 1977. Then, General Oufkir's entire family was sent to the secret
Tazmamart prison in the
Atlas Mountains where they suffered harsh conditions. After concerns of their escape, the prisoners are sent to Bir-Jdid. After escaping, they were released into house arrest in 1987. In 1991, they were among nine political prisoners to be released. On 16 July 1996, at the age of 43, Malika Oufkir emigrated to Paris accompanied by her brother Raouf and her sister Soukaina. Malika Oufkir's life has inspired many to advocate for the rights of political prisoners. She and her siblings are converts from Islam to Catholicism, and she writes in her book,
Stolen Lives, "We had rejected Islam, which had brought us nothing good, and opted for Catholicism instead." Her mother, however, remained a Muslim, but her siblings are Christians. "In our family," she asserts, "Christmas had always been sacred. Even at the Palace, where Islam was dominant, Christmas was still Christmas". Oufkir married Eric Bordreuil on 10 October 1998. They were married at the town hall of the
13th arrondissement in Paris. ==Publications==