Moroccan Activist Sentenced for Peaceful Speech
A court in Casablanca, Morocco, has sentenced prominent activist Fouad Abdelmoumni to six months in prison and imposed a fine over a Facebook post, Human Rights Watch and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) reported on March 3, 2025. The Moroccan government is urged to cease its escalating crackdown on activists, journalists, and human rights defenders who are being targeted merely for exercising their right to free speech. The authorities are also called upon to overturn Abdelmoumni’s conviction.
Abdelmoumni, who was abroad at the time of the ruling, was sentenced in absentia to six months' imprisonment and fined 2,000 dirhams (approximately US$208) for remarks made during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit. As a member of the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Advisory Committee, he has vowed to appeal the decision.
"Dragging yet another Moroccan activist to court and sentencing him to prison simply for expressing an opinion about Morocco’s foreign relations demonstrates the alarming extent of this crackdown on free speech," said Balkees Jarrah, Acting Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch. "President Macron should urge his ally, the King of Morocco, to put an end to these repressive measures and release all individuals imprisoned for peaceful expression."
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