Morocco: Lawyers urge the release of jailed journalists

Lawyers for journalists and rights activists held in Morocco called on the authorities Monday 10 July 2023 to find a “judicial, political and legal solution” that would enable their clients to be freed.

“I call on the judiciary and the highest authority in the land (King Mohamed VI) to come up with a judicial, political and legal solution” to these cases, lawyer Mohamed Messaoudi told reporters in Casablanca.

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WHO ORGANISED THE NEWS CONFERENCE?

The news conference was organised by a local group that advocates the freedom of political prisoners in the North African country. “We have great hopes that there will be an end to imprisonment and prosecutions, either by reviewing the cases still before the courts or maybe even benefiting from a pardon,” added Messaoudi, who has defended journalists Omar Radi and Souleiman Raissouni.

In Morocco, a pardon can be granted by the sovereign or also, in theory, by parliament. Radi and Raissouni were sentenced to six and five years respectively in cases of sexual assault, charges they denied, after trials their supporters said were tainted by “irregularities”.

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The authorities said they were tried and convicted in cases that had nothing to do with freedom of expression. A court of cassation is due to rule on Thursday on the fate of the two journalists.

LIBERATION OF ALL IMPRISONED JOURNALISTS

“As lawyers and defenders of human rights, we call for the immediate liberation of all political prisoners,” lawyer Souad Brahma said. She said the conditions in which some are being held “do not respect basic rights”.

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This is the case with both Raissouni — “whose state of health has got worse in solitary confinement” — and Radi, she told reporters. In early May, the rights group Amnesty International accused Morocco’s prison system of denying jailed journalists and activists access to materials so they can read and write.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has also expressed concern about “restrictive measures” placed on Radi. The prison authorities have denounced such allegations as “lies” intended to blacken the country’s human rights image at home and abroad.

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