Moroccan YouTuber Sentenced to 3 Years for Criticizing King, Sparking Free Speech Debate

It was at the beginning of December that the columnist was arrested, after having published on YouTube, an incendiary video that contains virulent criticism of the king. This earned the activist, in his forties, a conviction for "offense to constitutional institutions and incitement to hatred", indicates AFP.

This week saw a series of judicial sanctions targeting publications on social networks. On Monday, a 22-year-old was sentenced to two years in prison in Tétouan for "offense to civil servants", after live-streaming on Facebook, according to his lawyer, Ahmed Benabdelouhab. Indeed, Saïd Chakor filmed himself while waiting to receive care in a hospital, insulting the medical services and the king.

At the end of December, it was the young rapper Hamza, alias "Stalin", who was sentenced to four years in prison for "offense to constitutional institutions" in his amateur hit "Fhemna" (we understood), which he published on YouTube. In the same month, the YouTuber "Moul Kaskita", was sentenced to four years in prison in Settat for a video on his YouTube channel, containing "insults against Moroccans and the institutions of the Kingdom", reports the same source.