Morocco Activists Protest Social Media Crackdown, Demand Release of Detainees

For this group of human rights defenders, it is "a campaign of repression" targeting users of social networks, reports AFP. Denouncing this, several dozen protesters gathered in front of the Parliament in Rabat, as part of a "sit-in of solidarity with detainees", to denounce, they say, this "police state" that the kingdom is becoming. Placards and photos in hand, these human rights defenders demanded "immediate freedom" for their colleagues.

Essentially, the grounds for conviction, according to the same source, relate to videos or messages denouncing the social situation, poverty and corruption in Morocco, with virulent criticism or insults targeting the king or the authorities. In this regard, in a list of convictions presented by the group of defenders, it appears that the detainees are being prosecuted for "offense to the king", "offense to constitutional institutions", contempt of a public official or the national flag, or even "incitement to hatred". Charges for which they risk sentences ranging from six months to four years.

Created at the end of December at the time of the arrest of Omar Radi, a 33-year-old journalist and human rights activist, prosecuted for "contempt of a magistrate" for a message on Twitter, the "Committee to Support the Journalist and All Prisoners of Opinion" also took the floor. During a press conference held in Rabat, it stated in a statement that the ongoing campaign "aims to terrorize users of social networks". The objective, according to the Committee, is in fact to "muzzle freedom of expression on the internet". So in short, it is, it emphasizes, a "revenge and a settling of scores with those who disagree with the State, criticize its policies or express their anger".

Meanwhile, it is a different tune that resonates in the media close to power. It is, according to them, "a justified legal reaction to all those who indulge on social networks with unacceptable defamatory remarks".