Help Fouad Mourtada
Moroccan Fouad Mourtada has been arrested in Casablanca for creating a false profile on Facebook of a member of Morocco’s royal family.
His family has created a website: Help Fouad, to get his story internationally recognized.
Although this should come as no surprise, I find it absolutely deplorable that anyone be arrested for a mere prank, even if said prank is completely taboo in Morocco - sure, Fouad should’ve known better, but give the guy a break! Five years in jail, for what? What will that prove? That the royal family can’t take a joke?
Morocco is getting dangerously close to the level of censorship its Middle Eastern neighbors (okay, not neighbors per se) practice. Next thing you know, they’ll be arresting bloggers.
Please post about this, share Fouad’s story, and get this out there for people to read. Check out Global Voices Advocacy soon for a post on the subject by Sami ben Gharbia.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
“Morocco is getting dangerously close to the level of censorship its Middle Eastern neighbors (okay, not neighbors per se) practice. Next thing you know, they’ll be arresting bloggers.” … that day will come I´m afraid.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:48 pm
What kind of country is this? No freesom of expression even on the net. The kingdom of Morocco controls 100% of TV and radio. It’s normal that people will turn to the net to express themselves. In all democratic countries there are tv shows that make fun of the president and anybody in the government. In Morocco the royal family still thinks of itself as sacred and above critique. It’s even written in the Moroccan constitution “the king is sacred”. What can you expect from such a mentality?
May 5th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
It’s a shame such a beautiful country can have so many problems.No different from the rest of the world the suppose.When are we going to sort this planet out???