Moroccan court sentenced journalist to 18 months in prison for insulting

RABAT – Moroccan journalist Hamid Mahdaoui was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday on charges of insulting justice minister Abdellatif Ouahbi, he said.

Mahdaoui, who is also the editor-in-chief of the Badil.info news site and an outspoken critic of government policies, was also fined 1.5 million dirhams ($150,000) by the first instance court in Rabat.

The lawsuit was filed after Mahdaoui accused Ouahbi of fraud, among other allegations, in a video on his website. Ouahbi denied the accusations.

“I am innocent… I did not expect this prison sentence,” Mahdaoui told Reuters, adding that he was still undecided whether to appeal the decision to a higher court.

“I have already presented all my arguments in my defense in court,” he said.

The justice minister was not immediately available for comment following the ruling.

Khadija Riadi of the Moroccan human rights group AMDH said Mahdaoui was punished under the criminal code rather than the press code, which does not include prison sentences.

Mahdaoui was released in July 2020 after spending three years in prison on charges of failure to report a crime against state security. REUTERS