Morocco Jails Press Freedom Advocate

On March 17, Hicham Mansouri was arrested in his home. According to Front Line Defenders, a Dublin-based international human rights group, he was beaten and stripped of his clothes without being given an immediate reason. He was then sentenced to 10 months in prison and a $4,057 fine, an action condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The charges? Adultery and starting a brothel.

According to Mansouri's lawyer, he was stripped naked to give the appearance that he was engaged in adultery with the woman he was with (later identified as his partner by the local news). In local reports she was described as a woman who was separated from her husband, but not officially divorced. The police, however, maintain that they caught him in the caught. In Morocco, adultery is a criminal offense.

Mansouri is a project manager for the Moroccan Association for Investigative journalism, a group formed to support journalists in the country. Before his arrest, he had been working on a report about alleged Internet surveillance of activists and journalists by the Moroccan authorities. His lawyer and colleagues insist that the charges were fabricated to punish his work.

Last September, Mansouri was severely beaten by two men, an act believed to be politically motivated. It took him six weeks to recover. Currently, he is being held in Zaki prison in Sale where he is suffering because of poor conditions. Morocco ranks 130 on Reporters Without Borders 2015 Press Freedom Index.

For the full story, visit CPJ.org.