Moroccan Journalist Raissouni to Face Trial on Sexual Assault Charges

These accusations against the media professional are punishable by a heavy prison sentence. This is the first time that a journalist has been prosecuted in court on the basis of accusations published on a social network.

The story goes back to late 2018 when the journalist’s wife decided to make a documentary on the LGBT community in Morocco. One of the collaborators on this project accused the journalist on Facebook of sexual assault. He would have "taken advantage of his weakness and moral health to satisfy his sexual desires," specifies the plaintiff before adding: "the accused cannot be above the law just because he is a journalist."

Arrested in front of his home on Friday, May 22, the journalist was presented two days later before the Attorney General of Casablanca and referred to the investigating judge of the Court of Appeal of Casablanca. The court ordered his pre-trial detention for the purposes of an investigation into alleged acts of indecent assault with violence and kidnapping. The journalist has flatly denied all these accusations.

The day after his arrest, the defendant was supported by various national and international human rights associations. In a tweet, Christophe Deloire, director of Reporters Without Borders, expressed his full solidarity with the Moroccan journalist, "victim of a defamation campaign." Human rights defenders, while denouncing a political instrumentalization of the case, called for the journalist to be prosecuted while in provisional release.