Moroccan journalist Hamid Mahdaoui, known for his critical stance against government policies, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday for defamation. The sentence came in response to accusations Mahdaoui leveled against Morocco’s Justice Minister, Abdellatif Ouahbi, which he posted in a video on his news website, Badil.info.
Alongside his prison sentence, Mahdaoui, the editor-in-chief of Badil.info, was fined 1.5 million dirhams ($150,000) by the court of first instance in Rabat. Mahdaoui’s video alleged fraud and other misconduct by Minister Ouahbi, who has denied all accusations.
“I am innocent … I did not expect this prison sentence,” Mahdaoui told Reuters following the verdict. He indicated he had not yet decided whether to appeal, noting, “I already presented all my arguments in my defense at court.”
The case has drawn attention from Moroccan human rights advocates. Khadija Riadi, representing the Moroccan human rights group AMDH, expressed concern that Mahdaoui was sentenced under Morocco’s penal code, which permits jail terms for defamation charges, rather than under the press code, which does not.
Mahdaoui has faced legal troubles in the past; he was previously imprisoned in 2017 for failing to report a threat to national security and was only released in July 2020 after serving a three-year sentence.
The Justice Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment following the verdict.
