«Moroccan authorities should urgently end their intensifying repression of activists, journalists, and human rights defenders solely for exercising their right to free speech», urged Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) on Thursday. In a statement published by HRW, the two NGOs referred to the conviction of Moroccan activist Fouad Abdelmoumni, who was sentenced by a Casablanca court on March 3 to prison and fined over a Facebook post about French-Moroccan relations. Abdelmoumni was sentenced in absentia to six months in prison and fined 2,000 dirhams for a Facebook post criticizing Moroccan-French relations during Macron's state visit. Abdelmoumni, a member of the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Advisory Committee, stated that he would appeal the conviction. «Macron should press the King of Morocco, his ally, to end these repressive tactics and release all those detained for peaceful speech», said Balkees Jarrah, acting Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. «Dragging yet another Moroccan activist into court and sentencing him to prison merely for expressing an opinion about relations between Morocco and another country shows just how outrageous this crackdown on free speech is», Jarrah argued. Abdelmoumni was accused of «insulting public authorities, spreading false allegations, and reporting a fictitious crime he knew did not occur». A petition signed by nearly 300 activists and human rights advocates called on Moroccan authorities to annul Abdelmoumni's sentence and «release all political prisoners held in Morocco and other Maghreb countries». Abdelmoumni, who serves as the coordinator of the Moroccan Association in Support of Political Prisoners, told HRW that he has been «targeted for years, including through digital surveillance, invasions of privacy, and repeated harassment by media linked to Moroccan security services».
