A Moroccan investigative journalist was released from prison on Sunday (17 January) after serving a 10-month sentence for adultery in a case that rights groups described as politically driven.
Hicham Mansouri told a press conference that, after his arrest in March last year, the police questioned him about his supposed connection with Islamist movements rather than the charges he later faced.
He also spoke about being subjected to violence in prison. Press freedom and human rights groups reported that he was beaten and stripped by plain clothes police at the time of his arrest at his home in Rabat.
Mansouri, a coordinator with the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism, had been working on an article about electronic surveillance by the state.
But the authorities issued a statement saying he was arrested while “preparing the location for prostitution and participating in adultery with a married woman.” Adultery is illegal but the law is rarely enforced. The woman was later revealed to be separated.
He now faces renewed legal action. He is among seven activists and journalists who are facing trial next week (27 January) for charges involving “threats to national security” and the “failure to report foreign subsidies.”
Another of those charged with him is the Moroccan historian and journalist Maati Monjib, who went on hunger strike twice last year after a travel ban was placed on him.
Activists say the Moroccan government has cracked down on dissent, often in the name of averting possible extremist violence.
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