Moroccan journalist awaits verdict March 12

Moroccan journalist Omar Radi, who faces a year in prison for “contempt of court” after publishing a critical tweet, advocates freedom of expression during his trial in Casablanca Thursday.

A new press code, which came into force in 2016, exempts journalists from prison sentences, but it is enough for prosecutions to be brought under the criminal code to circumvent this provision.

But Radi will have to wait until next Thursday for his verdict.

I was practising my freedom of expression and my freedom of opinion, in the same way that my lawyers demanded a clearing and a drop of the charges.

“I replied and insisted that I was practising my freedom of expression and my freedom of opinion, in the same way that my lawyers demanded a clearing and a drop of the charges. So we will see, next week the verdict will be known on March 12th”, Radi said.

Omar was detained late December for a tweet in April on a magistrate’s verdict against members of the “Hirak”. It’s a protest movement that agitated northern Morocco in 2016 and 2017 and sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

The journalist’s incarceration sparked a wave of indignation and he was released on bail a few days later.

AFP