French-Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet was arrested on Sunday, July 12, upon his arrival at Tangier airport from Spain. According to his wife, he is being prosecuted for "spreading false information" and "undermining state institutions." At this stage, the Moroccan public prosecutor's office has not officially commented on the case.
Aged 66, Ali Lmrabet has lived in Barcelona for several years and is among the leading voices of the independent Moroccan press. He was previously banned from practicing journalism in Morocco between 2005 and 2015 following a defamation conviction related to statements he made about the Sahrawi refugees in the Tindouf camps, a particularly sensitive subject in the kingdom.
A figure in critical journalism
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) indicated that the journalist was to be transferred to Casablanca to be questioned by the National Brigade of the Judicial Police before being brought before the prosecutor. According to his wife, Ali Lmrabet told her that he was the subject of several arrest warrants for the alleged offenses.
Founder of the weekly magazines Demain Magazine and Doumane, which were banned in 2003, Ali Lmrabet was sentenced the same year to three years in prison, notably for "insulting the king", before being pardoned in 2004. Since settling in Spain, he continued his journalistic activities while remaining critical of the Moroccan authorities.
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