Journalists Imprisoned in 2017 - Abdelkabir al-Hor
- Document source:
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Date:
31 December 2017
Rassd Maroc | Imprisoned in Morocco | August 06, 2017
| Job: | Internet Reporter, Publisher/Owner |
| Medium: | Internet |
| Beats Covered: | Human Rights, Politics |
| Gender: | Male |
| Local or Foreign: | Local |
| Freelance: | No |
| Charge: | Anti-state |
| Length of Sentence: | Not Sentenced |
| Reported Health Problems: | No |
Policemen arrested Abdelkabir al-Hor, a blogger and the founding director of the news website Rassd Maroc, on August 6, 2017 at his home in the city of Marrakesh, his brother Adam al-Hor told CPJ and local media reported.
Police transferred al-Hor to their headquarters in Casablanca, where they held the journalist for five days, his brother hold CPJ.
On August 11, 2017, a Rabat investigative judge arraigned the blogger and charged him with "promoting terrorism" and "inciting dissidence" on the Rassd Maroc's Facebook page, according to Adam al-Hor and news reports. The judge did not cite specific posts; the investigation centered around al-Hor's coverage of protests in Morocco's northern Rif area.
The journalist denies the charges, his brother said.
Rassd Maroc has often been critical in its coverage of the Moroccan government, and the blogger's brother said that the charges stem from the journalist's coverage of the anti-corruption movement, al-Hirak al-Shaaby (The Popular Movement). The movement, which has led protests in the Rif area since October 2016, began after a garbage truck crushed a fishmonger to death while he was trying to recover fish that police had confiscated from him, according to news reports. Moroccan authorities have arrested several local journalists and deported at least four international journalists for their coverage of the protests in the Rif area, CPJ has documented.
The blogger is being held in a solitary confinement in Salé Prison, 12km (7.5 miles) from the capital Rabat, pending trial, according to Adam al-Hor and news reports.
No trial date was set in late 2017, according to the blogger's brother.
The blogger requested to enroll in Salé College while in detention but the college dean rejected his request in November 2017, his brother wrote on Facebook.
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