Jan. 28 () –
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPP) has called on the EU to increase its pressure on Morocco to release three journalists it believes are being persecuted for exercising their profession.
The CPP specifically addresses the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, to “renew its pressure on the Moroccan authorities to release the detained journalists and put an end to the arbitrary surveillance of journalists” and to Brussels “strengthen its requests in favor of respect for freedom of expression.”
Last week a European Parliament resolution expressed concern about the deterioration of press freedom in the country and warned of the situation of Omar Radi, accused of sexual crimes.
The CPP warns of the situation of two other journalists, Suleiman Raisuni and Taufik Buajrín. Raisuni is the director of the independent newspaper ‘Ajbar al Yum’ and was arrested on May 22 and sentenced to five years in prison for sexual assault, while Buajrín, a columnist for the same newspaper, was arrested on February 23, 2018 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for, among others, a crime of sexual assault.
Rasi is an investigative journalist working for the independent portal Le Desk who was arrested on July 29, 2020 following an investigation into land expropriation. He has been sentenced to six years in prison for undermining state security and for sexual assault.
“Journalists and press freedom advocates have assured the CPP that the charges brought against Radi, Rasuni and Buajrín are fabricated and that they were presented in retaliation for their work,” the CPP explained in a statement.
For this reason, the CPP asks the European External Action Service to “use all possible diplomatic and political means to achieve their release.”
The CPP has also referred to the complaints about the use of the Israeli spy software Pegasus. “Moroccan journalists have been among the first to identify the malicious use of spyware against journalists in 2015,” notes the CPP. Radi, Rasuni and Buajrín are on the list of journalists spied on with Pegasus.
For this reason, it calls on Borrell to “renew calls on the Moroccan government to independently investigate the findings of the Pegasus Project.” “We also urge you to support calls to all member states to stop exporting harmful surveillance technology to Morocco,” the text concludes.
