A man in Morocco has been sentenced to five years in jail for criticising King Mohammed VI in his Facebook posts, Guardian reported. Notably, his posts were in regard to the country's normalisation of ties with Israel.
Said Boukioud, 48, was sentenced on Monday by the Court of First Instance in Casablanca and was charged with "undermining the monarchy" for comments he posted on Facebook in 2020.
He was living in Qatar at the time. When he learned he was being prosecuted in Morocco, he deleted the posts and closed his account. However, he was arrested upon his return to Casablanca last week.
Mr Boukioud's lawyer El Hassan Essouni said on Wednesday that he was jailed for posts denouncing the normalisation “in a way that could be interpreted as criticism of the king”,
Morocco and Israel normalised relations in December 2020 as part of the US-backed Abraham Accords.
Under the country's constitution, foreign affairs are the prerogative of the monarch, King Mohammed VI.
His lawyer called the court's verdict "harsh and incomprehensible," and said that his client had no intention to offend the king in doing so.
Mr. Boukioud was convicted under article 267-5 of the penal code, which stipulates a jail term of between six months and two years for anyone who undermines the monarchy.
However, in this case, the sentence was increased to five years as the offence was committed publicly, including by electronic means.
Criticising the decision, human rights activists say the law hinders freedom of expression, and its wording “does not specify exactly what might constitute an attack” on the monarchy.
The lawyer noted that the sentence has been appealed.
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