Morocco: Five years in prison for a pro-Palestine activist over 'online posts'

A Moroccan court has sentenced a member of an Islamist movement to five years in prison over online posts. His movement says he was convicted for his "anti-normalisation" activity instead.

On Monday, the Court of First Instance in Mohammedia (near Casablanca) convicted Abderrahmane Azenkad, a member of the Al-Adl Wal Ihssan group (Justice and Charity), to five years in prison and a fine of 50,000 dirhams (US$5,000).

Arrested last month, Azenkad was convicted of three charges, including insulting a constitutional institution, incitement to commit misdemeanours through electronic means, and disseminating data that infringes on individuals' private lives.

Through a now-deleted Facebook account, the Islamist activist reportedly criticised Rabat's "criminal cooperation" with Israel and "its shameful silence towards the suffering of our brothers under the brutal Zionist occupation," according to a source from Adl Wal Ihssan.

In a press statement, the group argued that the sentence against Azenkad is "a serious violation of legal rights and arbitrariness against the freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by the Moroccan constitution."

The group continues to demand the immediate release of its member.

For the Moroccan Human Rights Space (EMDH), a local NGO, Azenkad's trial was part of a large campaign targeting several anti-normalisation activists.

"Azenkad's trial, like the trials for several other anti-normalisation activists, is against Article 25 of the Moroccan constitution," Mohamed Al-Ennouini, head of EMDH, told The New Arab.

"The freedoms of thought, opinion, and expression in all their forms are guaranteed (...)", reads Article 25 of Morocco's 2011 constitution. However, it is illegal to criticise the monarch according to the same constitution.

Last November, the Casablanca Appeal Court sentenced Saïd Boukyoud, a Moroccan based in Qatar, to three years in jail over 'insulting the monarch' in some anti-normalisation online posts dating back to 2020.

Last month, the trial of 13 local Pro-Palestine activists started for incitement and organising an unauthorised demonstration after they blocked the entrance to the French grocery store Carrefour.

In Morocco and elsewhere, the chain has faced boycotts since its franchises in Israel signed a partnership with Electra Consumer Products and its subsidiary Yenot Bitan, both operating within illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Their case has not yet been decided.

Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, thousands of Moroccans have rallied weekly to end normalisation with Israel and close the Tel Aviv liaison office in the North African state.

Rabat has allowed the protests but has yet to react to the people's demands.