RABAT: Moroccan journalist and human rights activist Omar Radi said Tuesday he had been handed a four-month suspended sentence for criticizing a judge in a tweet.
A court in the Casablanca district of Ain Sebaa also ordered Radi to pay a fine of 500 dirhams ($52), said the journalist, who reported the verdict in a tweet as courts in Morocco are closed to the public under measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“I had expected the trial to be scrapped. It is an attack on my freedom of expression,” Radi told AFP, adding that he will appeal the verdict.
The ruling was immediately criticized by Amnesty International, which urged Moroccan authorities to quash the sentence.
“Even though today’s verdict means Radi won’t serve time in prison, he should never have been put on trial in the first place or sentenced for expressing peaceful views on social media,” Amnesty’s regional director Heba Morayef said in a statement.
“This sentence reinforces the message that anyone in Morocco who stands up for human rights will be punished.”
In April last year, Radi criticized judge Lahcen Tolfi after he upheld sentences of up to 20 years in jail against leaders of a protest movement that rocked the country’s north in 2016 and 2017.
Radi was detained briefly in December and charged with “insulting magistrates” before being released following a social media outcry over his arrest.
Moroccan journalist sentenced to jail over tweet
https://arab.news/rxxhy
Moroccan journalist sentenced to jail over tweet
- A court in the Casablanca district of Ain Sebaa also ordered Radi to pay a fine of 500 dirhams ($52)
- The ruling was immediately criticized by Amnesty International
WhatsApp says Russia ‘attempted to fully block’ app
- Moscow has been trying to nudge Russians to use a more tightly controlled domestic online service
SAN FRANCISCO, United States: WhatsApp said Wednesday that Russia “attempted to fully block” the messaging app in the country to push users to a competing state-controlled service, potentially affecting 100 million people.
Moscow has been trying to nudge Russians to use a more tightly controlled domestic online service.
It has threatened a host of Internet platforms with forced slowdowns or outright bans if they do not comply with Russian laws, including those requiring data on Russian users to be stored inside the country.
“Today the Russian government attempted to fully block WhatsApp in an effort to drive people to a state-owned surveillance app,” WhatsApp posted on X.
“Trying to isolate over 100 million users from private and secure communication is a backwards step and can only lead to less safety for people in Russia,” WhatsApp added.
“We continue to do everything we can to keep users connected.”
Critics and rights campaigners say the Russian restrictions are a transparent attempt by the Kremlin to ramp up control and surveillance over Internet use in Russia, amid a sweeping crackdown on dissent during the Ukraine offensive.
That latest developments came after Russia’s Internet watchdog said Tuesday it would slap “phased restrictions” on the Telegram messaging platform, which it said had not complied with the laws.
