French-Moroccan photojournalist Seif Kousmate arrived, Saturday 25th of March, in Casablanca after being detained for three days in Nouakchott. He was deported by the Mauritanian authorities for conducting an investigation on slavery in the country. The journalist was arrested on March the 20th near «the borders with Senegal where he had to fly back to Morocco», a report issued by Reporters Without Borders (RWB) said on Tuesday. Transferred to Nouakchott, he was detained and his phone and computer were seized. According to RWB, the police questioned Seif Kousmate about his links with Biram Dah Abeid, a politician and anti-slavery activist who was running for the presidential elections. «The photojournalist decided to go on a hunger strike, before being finally expelled to Morocco on March the 24th», the same source added. Contacted by Reporters without Borders, Seif said that the authorities «suspected that he was a terrorist, and then an anti-slavery activist».
