Jailed Moroccan journalist Omar Radi receives Reporters Without Borders' independence prize

International rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has granted jailed Moroccan journalist Omar Radi the prize of independence, amid rising calls of ending his imprisonment.

"I represent today the voice of my son Omar Radi an investigative journalist imprisoned for 866 days following an unfair trial," said Fatiha Cherribi, Radi's mother, as she received his prize on Monday during the 30th edition of the RSF's prize for freedom at Paris.

For more than ten years, Omar Radi, a 35-year-old freelance journalist, has been investigating several sensitive issues such as corruption and human rights deterioration in the Moroccan kingdom while battling regular judicial harassment.

In December 2019, he was given a four-month suspended prison sentence for "contempt of court" for a tweet published eight months earlier.

An investigation for "espionage" was opened against him in June 2020 after Amnesty International revealed that his phone was hacked using Israeli Pegasus software. Manuscripts of his personal conversations with his sources were used against him on trial.

A month later, he was imprisoned following a complaint of "rape and sexual assault."

The two cases were handled jointly by the authorities, raising doubts about the "fairness" of his trial.

Challenging his pre-trial detention, Omar Radi went on a hunger strike, which he ended after 21 days due to suffering from Crohn's disease. Since then, he has not been healthy, according to his family.

In April, a court of appeal sentenced Radi to six years in prison on espionage and rape charges. Journalists Soulaimane Raissouni, Taoufiq Bouachrine and ex-human rights minister Mohamed Ziane were all prosecuted for sexual assault charges. Human Rights Watch released a report earlier this year arguing that the Moroccan state is using bogus charges to silence the opposition.

As Morocco is experiencing unprecedented ecstasy amid its national teams' historical victories at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, many activists released the Arabic hashtag "Telkou Drari Yferhou Maana" (translates to: "release our brothers to celebrate with us") and "Free Koulchi" (translating to, release them all) in reference to several activists and journalists who remain behind bars, mainly for their critiques of the state.

RSF committee also rewarded the Iranian journalist Narges Mohammadi, who is currently imprisoned for her activism, with the prize of courage.

Meanwhile, Mstyslav Tchernov and Yevhen Maloletka, two Ukrainian journalists and the sole reporters to document for three weeks the bombardment of the city of Mariupol in Ukraine received the prize of impact.