Morocco’s persecution of imprisoned journalist Soulaimane Raissouni must stop
After moving imprisoned journalist Soulaimane Raissouni far from his family for no good reason, and then confiscating his notebooks, the Moroccan authorities are now seizing his correspondence with his supporters and loved ones, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF), condemning this latest violation of his rights and reiterating its call for his release.
Detained for the past four years and currently held at Casablanca’s Ain Borja prison, Raissounihad written a reply to the letter that Ukrainian writer and novelist Andrey Kurkov sent him as part of PEN International’s campaign for imprisoned journalists, but his reply was confiscated, his family says.
The former editor of the daily newspaper Akhbar al Yaoum, who was sentenced to five years in prison by a Casablanca appeal court on 24 February 2021, is being deprived of the basic right to correspond with the outside world, say members of his family.
Raissouni has begun a hunger strike in protest against the many violations of his most basic rights, according to a statement issued by his family, who are very concerned for his state of health.
“There is no end to the arbitrary and degrading measures to which he is being subjected,” the family said in a statement sent to RSF. “The examples include the confiscation and destruction of his books and his correspondence with the journalist Omar Radi, another prisoner of conscience. This is in addition to the way they are making it impossible for him to complete a planned novel,and the guards’ degrading habit of filming him half-naked inside the prison.”
“Soulaimane Raissouni’s situation cannot go on. In response to the unrelenting oppressive measures to which he is being subjected in prison, he is now putting his life in danger. The contempt displayed by the prison authorities for journalists’ most basic rights is unacceptable. The international community must step up its efforts to ensure that Soulaimane Raissouni is treated with dignity and respect. We also reiterate our call for his release by means of a royal pardon.
Raissouni was already subjected to abusive treatment by the prison authorities when he was transferred without any warning in May 2022 from Casablanca’s Oukacha prison to Ain Borjaprison, which is located far from where his family lives.
During the transfer, the prison guards seized many of Raissouni’s documents such as his notes for his novel and tore up many of his notes and books. RSF denounced these unacceptable violations of his rights at the time.
When the appeals submitted by Raissouni and fellow imprisoned journalist Omar Radi to Morocco’s highest appeal court, the Court of Cassation, were finally rejected after repeated postponements on 18 July 2023, RSF urged the Moroccan authorities to use Throne Day on 30 July to issue a royal pardon for the two journalists.
