Moroccan Journalist Omar Radi Faces Judge in Espionage and Rape Case

Omar Radi had been arrested and incarcerated a few months ago for "foreign financing", "undermining the internal security of the State" and "rape". The hearing on Tuesday came before another trial scheduled for Thursday in Casablanca, after an altercation with colleagues that earned him an indictment in early July for "public drunkenness with insults and abuse". In recent months, the 34-year-old journalist has multiplied his legal troubles. At the beginning of the year, he had already been sentenced to four months’ suspended imprisonment for "contempt of a magistrate" after a tweet criticizing a judge, reports France 24.

On Tuesday morning, about twenty human rights activists and relatives, including the journalist’s mother, held a rally of support in front of the courthouse. On banners and placards, one can read "Free Radi and all detainees", "journalism is not a crime", "doubtful trial". The Moroccan authorities claim that "Morocco has no problem with freedom of expression". But for Driss Radi, the journalist’s father, "the file is empty". The reasons for his son’s troubles are elsewhere. "Omar is being prosecuted for his opinions," he claims.

Amnesty International has also launched a protest campaign, inviting the journalist’s supporters to send letters to the head of government. The reaction of the High Council of the Judiciary did not wait. It stated in a press release the "interference" of the NGO and called on the judges to "refer in their verdicts to the law and the principles of justice and equity", reports France 24.