Morocco: Journalist Hamid Mahdaoui jailed for defamation

Moroccan journalist Hamid Mahdaoui was sentenced to 18 months in prison on a charge of defamation against a government minister on November 11th, according to Reuters.

The editor-in-chief of news website Badil.info was sued after he accused justice minister Abdellatif Ouahbi of fraud, among other allegations.

An outspoken critic of government policies, Hamid Mahdaoui was also fined 1.5 million dirhams ($150,000) by the court of first instance in Rabat.

He said: “I am innocent! I did not expect this prison sentence,” adding that he was still undecided whether to appeal against the verdict to a higher court.

“I already presented all my arguments in my defence at court,” he said.

While justice minister was not immediately available for comment after the verdict, he has already denied all accusations.

Hamid Mahdaoui has already spent three years in jail between 2017 and 2020 on the charge of not reporting a crime against state security.

READ: Omar Radi: Martyred in Morocco’s culling of the free press

The sentence comes after three journalists were pardoned and released from prison in July by King Mohammed VI, according to Maghrebi.org.

Journalists Omar Radi, Soulaimane Raissouni and Taoufik Bouachrine had been imprisoned on what is widely believed to be trumped up sex charges.

After release, however, there was no indication if their sentences were commuted or if they were fully exonerated, preventing them from legally working.

According to CPJ, Radi said: “In Morocco, in order for journalists to receive a press accreditation to legally work, they need not to have a criminal record. So, at the moment I cannot work in journalism until I figure out my unclear legal status.”

Reuters and Maghrebi.org