Moroccan journalist Ali Anouzla has
been officially charged with defending and inciting "terrorism".
A
Moroccan journalist arrested last week for posting a link to an Al-Qaeda video
has been charged with defending and inciting "terrorism", his lawyers
said on Wednesday.
Ali
Anouzla, director of the Arabic version of independent news website Lakome, was
arrested on September 17 after his website posted a link to the video
attributed to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the jihadist network's
North African affiliate.
Anouzla
appeared before a judge at the court of appeal in Rabat on Tuesday evening,
where the public prosecutor called for him to be investigated for
"defending", providing "material assistance to," and
"inciting terrorist acts", the prosecutor's office said.
He
was then formally charged on the basis of those accusations, two of his lawyers
said on Wednesday.
"He
is being officially prosecuted and is now in custody," Omar Benjelloun
told AFP.
Lakome described the charges as
"surreal."
The
journalist has been transferred to Sale prison, near Rabat, where prisoners
convicted of terrorism offences are held, after being detained at a police
station in Casablanca following his arrest.
Benjelloun
said the judge has five months to complete the investigation, which will be
conducted within the framework of Morocco's draconian anti-terrorist law.
Police
arrested Anouzla, seizing computer equipment from his office, after a Lakome article
carried a link to Spanish newspaper El
Pais's website, where the Al-Qaeda video had been posted.
The
41-minute video, entitled "Morocco: the kingdom of corruption and
despotism", and which first appeared on the Internet on September 12,
calls for jihad in the North African country and lashes out at King Mohamed VI.
Calls
for Anouzla's release
Anouzla's
arrest has been denounced by rights groups in and outside Morocco, with Amnesty
International calling him a prisoner of conscience, and demanding his immediate
release.
Reporters
Without Borders condemned the charges brought against him, saying Anouzla was
"paying the price for his independence... and for his fight for the
freedom of expression in his country."
Moroccan
journalists are expected to hold protests in Rabat, Casablanca and Tangiers on
Thursday.
Moroccan
authorities, together with the main political parties and pro-regime media
accuse Anouzla and Lakome
of giving a platform to Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The
government has also threatened legal action against El Pais.
Anouzla
is an experienced journalist formerly with pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat
who is known for sharply criticising state institutions, including the
monarchy, effectively a taboo subject in the Moroccan media, and has been
prosecuted in the past.
Source: DCMF
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