Moroccan Journalist Sentenced to 5 Years for Sexual Assault Amid Hunger Strike Controversy

In preventive detention since May 2020 following a complaint from an LGBT activist for "sexual assault", Soulaimane Raissouni, 49, was sentenced to five years in prison on appeal. The journalist was once again absent from his trial, as he says he has been on a hunger strike for 90 days to demand provisional release.

"After a so-called hunger strike of more than 70 days, does he manage to walk the entire distance on foot from his cell to the lawyers’ office and have exchanges with his lawyers for enough time, and at the same time claim that his state of health does not allow him to be present at a judicial hearing?" the General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) wondered in a statement released on June 18.