UPDATE: Morocco releases journalist Ali Lmrabet after holding him for three days | International
Latest Developments:
Governments, analysts, and media outlets are continuing to follow this situation closely as additional details become available.
The dissident Moroccan journalist Alí Lmrabet, 66, detained on Sunday in Tangier, was released this Wednesday in Casablanca, according to his family from Barcelona, where the informant has lived in exile for two decades after being imprisoned and disqualified in Morocco. Lmrabet had traveled to the Maghreb country and was immediately arrested on charges of having committed crimes of libel, defamation and false information through social networks. The Casablanca Prosecutor’s Office stated in a statement on Tuesday that the police arrest had occurred so that the informant could be “interrogated” about “defamatory and insulting statements against people and institutions” and “offensive expressions directed against organizations” of the State. The prosecutor of the Criminal Court of Casablanca announced this Wednesday that Lmrabet has been released while the investigation continues, according to the state news agency MAP. The journalist has been interrogated at the Prosecutor’s Office and has undergone a medical examination. The Public Ministry has ordered the return of two computers, a USB memory and a mobile phone that were seized upon his arrival on Sunday at Tangier airport. The release of Lmrabet, who also has a French passport, took place a few hours before the start of the official visit to Rabat of the French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, scheduled for a high-level bilateral meeting starting this Wednesday. Following the petition launched on Monday by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) In favor of the journalist’s release, the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) had expanded the demand on Tuesday, calling for his immediate release. RSF, which places Morocco in 105th place on a list of 180 countries according to its level of respect for press freedom, has questioned “the use of the judicial system to silence critical voices.” “Criminalizing journalistic work cannot correspond to the application of the law: it is the perversion of justice at the service of repression,” emphasizes this organization that defends persecuted reporters. Upon returning to his country after at least five years of absence, accusations and complaints were awaited by Lmrabet, presented both by “constitutional” authorities and by associations with an official profile. Pioneer of the openness of information at the beginning of the reign of Mohamed VI, in 1999, The independent journalist was imprisoned in 2003 for questioning the figure of the monarch and chose exile in Spain since 2005 after being disqualified from practicing his profession. Active on social networks with critical comments on current political events in Morocco, Lmrabet has collaborated with Spanish and European media, including EL PAÍS. In Morocco he directed the magazine Le Journal and founded the publication Demain, as well as various satirical weeklies in Arabic and French. All of them were closed by Justice after complaints from authorities and official associations. Among many other professional awards, in 2005 he received the José Couso Prize for Freedom of the Press. Entities such as the Federation of Associations of Journalists of Spain (FAPE), the College of Journalists of Catalonia, a professional association to which he belongs, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona, to which he is linked for his participation in academic activities related to information, had also demanded his release on Tuesday.
Key Developments:
This event is already generating discussion among political analysts and international organizations worldwide.
Global audiences continue following the story closely as regional responses begin to emerge.
Stay tuned for further updates on this developing international story.
Source: This article was originally published by Internacional en EL PAÍS and adapted for our international English-speaking audience.
Read the original article here.