On Monday, King Mohammed VI of Morocco pardoned three journalists who had been detained for several years, alongside hundreds of other prisoners whose sentences were commuted to commemorate the monarch’s 25th year on the throne.
Among the 2,476 people granted clemency were Omar Radi, Soulaimane Raissouni, Taoufik Bouachrine, and historian and rights advocate Maati Monjib, according to a government official who requested anonymity.
Rights organizations, such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF), had condemned the imprisonment of Radi and Raissouni, who were detained since 2021 on charges of sexual assault, which they denied.
Human Rights Watch accused Morocco of using criminal trials, particularly those involving alleged sexual offenses, as “techniques of repression” to suppress journalists and critics of the government.
In July 2023, the country’s highest court dismissed the final appeals of two journalists.
