Appeal court overturns blogger's conviction

Organisation:

RSF_en

Reporters Without Borders hails today's decision by an Agadir appeal court to quash blogger Mohamed Erraji's conviction on the grounds of procedural irregularities. Erraji was sentenced on 8 September to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 dirhams (430 euros) for “disrespect for the king” in article for the Moroccan news website Hespress (http://hespress.com).

تبرئة المدوّن محمد الراجي Reporters Without Borders hails today's decision by an Agadir appeal court to quash blogger Mohamed Erraji's conviction on the grounds of procedural irregularities. Erraji was sentenced on 8 September to two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 dirhams (430 euros) for “disrespect for the king” in article for the Moroccan news website Hespress (http://hespress.com). “This is a great relief and we are delighted that this case is over,” the press freedom organisation said. “But we regret the fact that the judges chose not to discuss the substance of the case. Erraji was not guilty of insulting the king. Morocco still has a long way to go as regards online freedom.” The appeal court found that correct judicial procedure was violated. Erraji was arrested and charged on 4 September and his lawyer appeared before a court in his defence on 16 September, 12 days later. But article 72 of the press law requires a minimum of 15 days between the filing of charges and the first hearing in the trial. Aged 29, Erraji was convicted under article 41 of the Moroccan press law for writing an article entitled “King encourages dependency on handouts” that criticised Mohammed VI's custom of granting favours (http://hespress.com/article-erraji.html). He was released provisionally on 11 September and appealed on 16 September. Although responsible for bringing the original charge against him, the prosecutor called for his acquittal at the appeal hearing. More information

Published on 18.09.2008