Sentenced in first instance to 12 years in jail, the owner of Moroccan newspaper Akhbar Alyaoum, Taoufik Boucharine, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he appealed against the first ruling. Indeed, the Casablanca Court of Appeal has just increased the first sentence on Friday. In November 2018, the court of first instance found him guilty before the journalist decided to appeal the judgement. In early October 2019, the prosecution had required 20 years of imprisonment. Alyaoum24 recalls that on Friday, Taoufik Bouachrine was heard for the last time by the court. This was not preceded by the comment of the Public Prosecutor's office on the journalist's last words requesting that «justice be rendered [to him] in the same way as it was to Hajar Raïssouni». The former editor of Akhbar Alyaoum was arrested in February 2018 following a perquisition of his newspaper's premises, where about 50 CDs and cameras were found. The investigators had estimated that this material was used by Taoufik Bouachrine to document the alleged sexual abuse, based on testimonies collected from then-colleagues and former colleagues alike.
