Moroccan Journalist Sentenced to Prison for Defaming Justice Minister

Editor-in-chief of the news site Badil.info, he had accused the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, of corruption and fraud in a video. These accusations follow a drug trafficking case involving members of the minister’s party, the Party of Authenticity and Modernity.

Prosecuted on the basis of the Penal Code and not the Press Code, this conviction has provoked strong reactions. Reporters Without Borders denounces an "instrumentalization of justice to silence the press." This is not the first time that Hamid Mahdaoui has been questioned by the justice system. In 2017, he had been sentenced to three years in prison for failing to report a plan to send weapons to protesters.

This case is part of a very difficult context for press freedom in Morocco, even though King Mohammed VI recently pardoned three imprisoned journalists: Omar Radi, Taoufik Bouachrine and Soulaimane Raissouni. Mahdaoui’s lawyer, Mohamed Hedach, indicated that his client has not yet made a decision regarding a possible appeal.