A Moroccan activist who “insulted” the king and criticised normalisation with Israel online has been sentenced to five years in jail, his lawyer said.
Abderrahmane Zankad, 48, a member of the banned but tolerated Al Ald Wal Ihsanne party was arrested in March and sentenced Monday after denouncing on Facebook “Arab rulers” and “normalisers” of ties with Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, said his lawyer El Hassan Essonni.
“He wasn’t specifically talking about the king of Morocco, but the positions of the rulers of countries close to Palestine,” Essoni said, but in one post Zankad referred to the “commander of the faithful”, a title used to designate King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
Zankad was also charged with “spreading false information” about Rabat’s management of a massively-destructive 2023 earthquake.
The court in Casablanca sentenced him to five years in jail for “insulting the king” and the monarchy, the lawyer said
Al Adl Wa Al Ihssane called the sentencing “unjust” in a statement Tuesday.
The group has organised weekly rallies across the country in solidarity with Palestinians since the Gaza war broke out after Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel.
The latest demonstration on Friday gathered thousands in Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city and economic hub.
Last August, another Moroccan man was also sentenced to five years in prison for offending the king over social media posts criticising Rabat’s normalisation with Israel.
Morocco established diplomatic ties with Israel under the United States-brokered Abraham Accords in late 2020, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Over the years, Rabat has been criticised for restricting freedom of expression by targeting and imprisoning political opponents, journalists and dissenting internet users.