Annual Prison Census 2013 - Morocco
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 18 December 2013 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Annual Prison Census 2013 - Morocco, 18 December 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/52b83bcc8.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Journalists in prison as of December 1, 2013
Morocco: 1
Mohamed Sokrate, freelance
Imprisoned: May 29, 2012
Sokrate, a prominent blogger, was arrested by security forces while leaving an Internet café in Marrakech. In June 2012, a local court sentenced him to two years in prison on charges of drug possession and trafficking, according to news reports.
News accounts reported that Sokrate's criticism of the monarchy and political Islam is widely believed to be the reason for his imprisonment. Moroccan authorities have a record of filing trumped-up charges of drug possession to imprison critical journalists, CPJ research shows.
Authorities briefly arrested Sokrate's father and brother as a way of pressuring the blogger to sign a false confession, according to regional press freedom groups. The blogger eventually signed the confession, news reports said.
Sokrate was also a member of the February 20 youth group, which had organized protests for reform in Morocco in 2011.
