RABAT (Reuters) – A Moroccan human rights activist will go on trial charged with spreading fake news, offending institutions and false reporting after accusing the kingdom of using migration and espionage to pressure France, a Casablanca prosecutor said on Friday.
Fouad Abdelmoumni was arrested on Wednesday for interrogation by police before being released on Friday.
Abdelmoumni’s remarks on social media “undermine the interests of the Kingdom and some of its institutions and transgresses freedom of speech, while including elements that constitute legally punishable crimes,” a spokesman for the prosecutor told reporters in Casablanca.
His trial will start on December 2, a judicial source said.
During a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron this week, Abdelmoumni wrote on Facebook — without offering evidence — that Morocco was using migration, security intelligence and espionage to pressure France.
Macron carried out his Oct 28-30 visit as the two countries turn the page on years of diplomatic tensions, with migration and espionage among issues that have strained ties.
“Charging him for peacefully expressing his views would be a blatant violation of his right to free speech under international law,” Human Rights Watch said of Abdelmoumni.
Moroccan rights group AMDH said he was arrested arbitrarily because of his political activism.
His lawyer Souad Brahma said Abdelmoumni was arrested for freely expressing his opinion on social media.
(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi, Editing by William Maclean)
