Two more journalists jailed

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the grossly unjust prison sentences that two Moroccan journalists, Omar Radi and Imad Stitou, received from a Casablanca court on Tuesday ‘after proceedings marked by many irregularities’. Convicted on charges of rape and espionage, Radi was sentenced to six years' imprisonment, while Stitou was sentenced to 12 months (six months suspended) on a charge of failing to report a crime. ‘These convictions are a disgrace,’ said RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire. ‘At the height of the Pegasus revelations and just days after a similar verdict in the case of Souleiman Raissouni, the Moroccan judicial system continues to deny the iniquity of its prosecutions and has again imposed heavy prison sentences on journalists after denying them due process.’ The Moroccan authorities began investigating Radi on suspicion of spying in late June 2020, just days after Amnesty International reported that they had used the Pegasus spyware app made by the Israeli company NSO Group to hack into Radi's phone and monitor his activities. Just weeks later, he was suddenly questioned in connection with the rape and sexual harassment allegations that had just been made against him by a female journalist he had worked with. He was then jailed a year ago.

RSF statement