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The highest court in Morocco, the Court of Cassation in Rabat, has rejected the final appeals of two jailed journalists, their lawyer Miloud Kandil said on Wednesday. Omar Radi and Suleiman Raissouni have had their prison sentences upheld by the court.
Radi, 37, and Raissouni, 51, were sentenced to six and five years in prison respectively, in two separate "sexual assault" cases. They both denied the accusations and claimed that the trial was "political". The authorities insisted that the trials were "just and fair". They have been held in prison since 2021.
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Prior to the court decision being announced, the journalists' lawyers and human rights organisations urged the Moroccan authorities to find a "judicial, political and legal solution" to release the two men.
The Court of Cassation has also upheld the ruling issued against journalist Imad Steto, who was sentenced to one year in prison in the same "rape case" in which Radi was tried. However, Steto left Morocco.
In the latest global press freedom ranking published by Reporters Without Borders for 2023, Morocco dropped nine places to 144th.
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