Franco-Moroccan Cleared in France Over TikTok Threats Against King Mohammed VI

A festering inheritance dispute, family tensions and angry messages posted on social media. At the hearing in Roanne, in the Loire, the private conflict took an unusual turn: among those targeted were King Mohammed VI, Morocco’s ambassador to France and a Moroccan prosecutor.

The defendant said he had expressed his anger in videos posted to a private TikTok account. He said he deleted them when he arrived in France, more than two years earlier, reports Le Progrès.

But thirteen recordings resurfaced after being sent anonymously to police. In one, threatening remarks target the ambassador, who is told to “increase her security.” Another clip shows a man burning a caricature of Mohammed VI, starting with the eyes. The man could be the defendant, according to the newspaper.

Videos that turn the trial

At court, the date of the recordings became central. The prosecutor, as well as the lawyers for the civil parties and the defense, all acknowledged the difficulty of establishing when the videos were made. The judges found that they had been recorded outside the period covered by the charges.

The way the videos circulated also weighed on the case. The threatening clips had been shared on a private channel. The civil parties learned of them only after an anonymous tip was sent to police.

These two factors determined the outcome of the hearing on Wednesday, October 21. Unable to link the videos to the dates of the alleged offenses, and taking into account the circumstances in which they were circulated, the Roanne court cleared the Franco-Moroccan.