Member of Al Adl Wal Ihssane, considered the most important Moroccan Islamist organization in Morocco, Mohamed Boustati was sentenced at the end of March to one year in prison at first instance. The Islamist activist was arrested and placed in detention at the end of February, following a complaint from the Saudi intelligence services denouncing his publications on Facebook, deemed offensive for Saudi institutions and symbols, informed his lawyer in March, Mohamed Nouini.
The Khouribga Court of Appeal has just confirmed the sentence pronounced at first instance against the accused, sentenced him to “a year in prison and a fine of 2,000 dirhams”. An “unfair decision,” said his lawyer on Tuesday, stressing that his client’s publications on social networks are “criticisms” of the positions of Arab countries on the war in Gaza and the normalization of relations with Israel.
To read: Morocco: convicted for Facebook publications
During the hearing on Tuesday, Me Nouini invoked “freedom of expression”, stressing that Boustati’s publications “concerned general questions and did not target any institution”. The lawyer also recalled that the activist “denied having written certain publications” and said that “his Facebook account had been hacked”. These arguments did not convince the court which judged these “defamatory” publications.
Another member of Al Adl Wal Ihssane, a fervent support of the Palestinian Hamas movement, was sentenced in early March to two years in prison for “incitement to hatred” after publications on Facebook making, according to the accusation, “the apology” of a knife attack in Israel.
