Moroccan journalist Omar Radi, detained Thursday in Casablanca and immediately put on trial for a tweet about a judge prosecuting Hirak activists, has been granted provisional release pending trial, his lawyers told Yabiladi on Tuesday. «Omar Radi will be released from prison this afternoon (Tuesday)», after the judges approved the provisional release request submitted three days ago by his lawyers, his lawyer Said Benhammami explained to Yabiladi. Indeed, photos and videos of the journalist outside the Oukacha local prison in Casablanca have been posted to the internet earlier this afternoon. Radi was surrounded by his parents, friends and other journalists while standing in front of the prison's gate. The National Brigade of the Judicial Police (BNPJ) summoned Radi, 25 December, over a nine-month tweet in which he criticized the judge that confirmed the sentences, ranging from 1 to 20 years in prison, handed to several Hirak detainees. On Thursday, Radi was brought before the King's prosecutor in Casablanca over said tweets. On the same day, the activist was immediately put on trial for «offending a judge». The charges were based on Art 263 from the Kingdom's Penal Code, which punishes the act of «insulting state agents whilst performing their duties». During the same day, the second hearing of his trial was scheduled for January 2, 2020 after the court refused to grant him provisional release, his lawyers told Yabiladi last week. If found guilty of insulting a judge, the journalist could be sentenced to up to one year in jail For the record, Radi was interrogated by the police because of the same tweet in April, days after he criticized Judge Lahcen Tolfi. The latter confirmed, in April 2019, sentences pronounced against several Hirak detainees. Radi took to Twitter at the time, stating that he was shortly questioned by the police for his tweets for more than four hours. The arrest and trial of Omar Radi have pushed several activists and journalists to hit the streets to support the journalist. Several sit-ins were observed in Rabat, Agadir, Brussels and Paris. Article modifié le 2019/12/31 à 16h21
