Moroccan Student’s Appeal Set for January 20 in Free Speech Case

The high school student in the first year of the baccalaureate had been arrested at the beginning of December. In accordance with articles 179, 263 and 265 of the Moroccan Penal Code, Ayoub Mahfoud was prosecuted for insulting the person of the king, a public official in the exercise of his duties and the constituted bodies, recalls TelQuel.

The 18-year-old high school student had repeated the lyrics of the title "3acha cha3b" (Long live the people) by the rappers Weld L’Griya, Lz3er and L’Gnawi on Facebook, which he had accompanied with a photo deemed "offensive" to indict King Mohammed VI.

Arrested by the police, Ayoub Mahfoud was brought to justice. In the court of first instance in Meknes, the judge had sentenced him to three years in prison and a fine of 5,000 dirhams on December 17, 2019.

Dissatisfied with this judgment, his lawyer, Lalla Hasnaa Alaoui, appealed, and a new trial has been set for January 20. According to the lawyer, the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) intends to support her client. She wants to mobilize her lawyers to defend the young high school student.