Morocco Intensifies Crackdown on Social Media Critics, Amnesty International Reports

At least ten people have been arrested and sentenced to "severe sentences" for having posted criticism of King Mohammed VI, state institutions or other officials on social media. This is what the human rights organization has indicated since November. Among the convicted persons, four of them were prosecuted for "offense against the king", the monarchy being exempt from criticism in Morocco, the NGO said.

To justify its statements, Amnesty International cites the cases of the YouTubers "Moul Hanout" and "Moul Kaskita" who were respectively sentenced to three and four years in prison for criticizing the king or state institutions. The cases of a high school student (3 years in prison), a young rapper (4 years) and the journalist Omar Radi, for having harshly criticized a judge, should also be mentioned.

"Free them all," is the cry launched by Amnesty International, which calls on the Moroccan authorities to drop the charges and release the convicted who exercised their right to freedom of expression, said Heba Morayef, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

The Human Rights Watch organization had also alerted to the cases of repression recorded at the beginning of February. "The human rights situation is not regressing in Morocco," government spokesman Hassan Abyaba said in January, calling for a sorting out of these statements.