Moroccan Activist Maati Monjib Sentenced to One Year in Prison, Supporters Allege Political Retaliation

"This judgment was rendered without summoning the defense lawyer and without summoning Mr. Monjib, who has always appeared before the Court during the multiple hearings" of the trial, commented his support committee in a statement. For the committee members, this "unjust" and "politically motivated" judgment is mainly aimed at taking revenge on Dr. Maati Monjib and justifying his continued detention [...] on the grounds that he has been convicted, while he is being prosecuted in another case.

The judgment concerns six other journalists and human rights activists. It was published on a website of the Ministry of Justice accessible to lawyers. Three of the defendants were also sentenced to one year in prison. The support committee has demanded "the dropping of charges" against all the accused.

This trial had opened in 2015. The 60-year-old intellectual is being prosecuted for alleged embezzlement related to the management of a center he created to promote, in particular, investigative journalism. In the past, Mr. Monjib had accused the Moroccan authorities of "terrorizing journalists and opponents in general". He had remained free until his arrest at the end of December on suspicion of "money laundering". "I am innocent of all these defamatory accusations," he had claimed, stating that the facts were "not new" and corresponded to the ongoing trial.

Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have expressed their support for the historian after his arrest. They have also called on the Moroccan authorities to "release him immediately and unconditionally". For its part, the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights has "categorically" rejected the "lies" about the state of freedom of expression in the country. Except that the latest annual report of Human Rights Watch indicates that in 2019 Morocco "intensified its repression against social media commentators, artists and journalists expressing critical opinions".