Moroccan journalist sentenced to 6 years in prison spying, sex assault

RABAT - A Casablanca court on Monday convicted prominent journalist and activist Omar Radi on charges of espionage and sexual assault and sentenced him to six years in prison.

His colleague, Imad Stitou, was convicted of “participation in rape” and sentenced to 12 months in prison, with six months suspended.

Radi, an investigative journalist jailed since his arrest in July 2020, has denied any wrongdoing.

Radi was the subject of an Amnesty International report in June 2020 that said Moroccan authorities had unlawfully spied on the journalist through his phone by using sophisticated surveillance software. The Moroccan government disputed the claim.

However, the Moroccan government repeatedly challenged Amnesty International to provide evidence of the phone hacking, but to no avail.

Some 189 journalists around the world identified as being on a list of allegedly targeted clients of Israeli-based NSO Group, a hacker-for-hire using military-grade malware for potential spying on journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents, the Paris-based journalism non-profit consortium Forbidden Stories reported this week.

“Aware of the ulterior motives and aims behind the dissemination of these false allegations and their context, the Moroccan government challenges the above-mentioned collective (Forbidden Stories), as it did with Amnesty International, to provide realistic and scientific evidence that can be subject to professional, impartial and independent expertise and counter-expertise on the veracity of these allegations,” the Moroccan government said Monday in a statement.

The United States has voiced its concerns about treatment of some journalists by the North African kingdom. Another journalist, Soulaimane Raissouni, was recently sentenced to five years in prison.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that media freedom “is foundational to prosperous and secure societies and governments must ensure that journalists can safely perform their essential roles without fear of unjust tension, violence or threats.”

Morocco, a major US ally, quickly took issue with the US stance. Its Ministerial Delegation for Human Rights said the State Department “knowingly obscured the point of view of the complainants and their defense, going so far as to deny their very status of victim.” The statement said it was “astonished” at the focus on the professional status — journalist — and his allegations.

The Casablanca court ordered Radi and Stitou to pay the equivalent of more than $22,300 to the victim of the alleged sexual assault.