Moroccan Activist’s Sentence Reduced for Facebook Posts Criticizing Israel Normalization

Convicted to five years in prison for offending King Mohammed VI for posts on Facebook, where he denounced the normalization with Israel, by the court of first instance in Casablanca, Saïd Boukioud, 48, saw his sentence reduced to three years in prison but with the fine of 40,000 dirhams maintained on Monday by the Casablanca Court of Appeal. The latter requalified the facts as an offense against the person of King Mohammed VI. According to the Constitution, the foreign policy of Morocco is a prerogative of the sovereign.

According to the explanations of El Hassan Essouni, Boukioud’s lawyer, his client "never had" the intention of offending the king, but "wanted to draw attention to the fact that normalization was neither good for Moroccans, nor for the Palestinian cause, nor for anyone." Dissatisfied, he intends to appeal in cassation, as he considers this new sentence "very excessive".

In August, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) reported that it had recorded "dozens of legal proceedings" in two years, particularly following publications criticizing the authorities on social networks. For their part, the latter claim to be fighting against "defamation" and "attacks on individual freedoms" on social networks, "crimes" punishable by imprisonment.