Moroccan Judge’s Sentence Reduced After Apology for Defamation Charges

The accused was prosecuted for "dissemination of false allegations and facts with the aim of harming the privacy of individuals and defaming them, contempt of magistrates, contempt of the judicial police, contempt of a legally constituted body, contempt of court decisions through statements intended to harm the judicial system and its independence, as well as public statements intended to influence the decisions of judges before a final judgment is rendered."

At the previous hearing, the retired judge had publicly apologized to the court and all the officials in the justice sector who had been targeted by the videos she had widely shared on social media. The magistrate also implored King Mohammed VI to grant her royal pardon. At the same hearing, the defense of the accused had presented two medical reports from the Ibn Rochd hospital, attesting that the accused suffered from partial paralysis, encephalopathy, as well as partial hearing loss.