Journalist Witness in Omar Radi Case Faces "Complicity in Rape" Charges

In a statement to AFP, lawyer Miloud Kandil hinted that Imad Stitou, the sole witness for the defense in this case, was questioned on Thursday "as an accused" by the investigating judge in Casablanca. The 34-year-old journalist Omar Radi was placed in pre-trial detention at the end of July in a dual case of rape and espionage.

He is also being prosecuted for a case of public drunkenness with his friend Imad Stitou, a journalist from the Desk website. At the origin of this case, an altercation with two cameramen who were filming them as they left a bar. Radi was accused of rape by an employee of the Desk. He rejects the accusation and claims that there was only a "consensual relationship" between them.

For his part, Imad Stitou "attested from the preliminary investigation of the gendarmerie to the consensual nature of the incriminated sexual relationship," according to his support committee. "By changing the status of the only witness, the public prosecutor’s office is trying to deprive Omar Radi of his fundamental right to a fair trial and to take away a proof of his innocence," denounces the committee in a statement.