His detention in Morocco reflects the use of the judicial system to silence critical voices.
On Tuesday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called for the release of independent French-Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet, who was detained in Morocco for the alleged dissemination of false information.
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“The detention of Ali Lmrabet is deeply concerning and illustrates, once again, the use of the judicial system to silence critical voices. We demand his release,” RSF said.
“Ali Lmrabet has dedicated his career to journalism and the right to information, values that Morocco has publicly committed to defending. Criminalizing a journalist’s work is not the application of the law; it is the perversion of justice in the service of repression,” it continued.
On Sunday, Lmrabet was detained upon his arrival in Tangier and transferred to Casablanca to answer several charges of alleged defamation and insult related to his journalistic work.
“I’m not aware of this case. I’ll look into it,” said Spain’s Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, when asked on the radio (@La_SER) about Ali Lmrabet, the Moroccan journalist who has been placed under formal investigation in #Morocco. News of his arrest became public on Sunday…
— Ignacio Cembrero (@icembrero) July 14, 2026
The Moroccan Prosecutor’s Office affirms that the journalist is suspected of offenses related to “the publication of a series of digital content containing defamatory and insulting statements against individuals and institutions, as well as offensive expressions directed at bodies regulated by law.”
RSF recalled that Lmrabet is a leading figure in critical journalism in Morocco and the founder of Demain Magazine and Le Journal, both of which were banned in the country.
In 2003, he was imprisoned after publishing articles critical of the Moroccan government and was pardoned by the King the following year. In 2005, however, he was banned from practicing journalism in Morocco for 10 years following another defamation conviction.
Lmrabet left Morocco and settled in Barcelona. Since then, he has worked for media outlets in Spain, France and the United Kingdom and hosts a podcast on Moroccan politics.
In 2008, Moroccan authorities attempted to prosecute Ali Lmrabet before Spanish and French courts, but those cases were consistently dismissed. In 2014, he was named one of RSF’s “100 Information Heroes” for his commitment to press freedom.
Currently, Morocco ranks 105th out of 180 countries and territories in the World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: EFE
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