Moroccan journalist and human rights activist Omar Radi, in preventive detention since the end of July, was questioned Thursday by an investigating judge in Casablanca, his first hearing for a spy case.
Arrested and imprisoned for "
foreign funding"
and
"attack on the internal security of the State"
, the 34-year-old journalist is also accused of
"rape".
To read also: Omar Radi case: a defense witness prosecuted for "complicity in rape"
He appeared Thursday before an investigating judge of the criminal chamber of the Casablanca court of appeal (west) as part of the investigation into the espionage case, according to his lawyer Miloud Kandil.
"He reaffirmed before the investigating judge that he is innocent"
and that his foreign relations pointed out by the prosecution are
"purely professional (and) linked to his journalistic work"
, told AFP Me Kandil, without give more details, subject to the secrecy of the investigation.
The investigation for
"espionage"
was opened at the end of June after the publication of a report by the human rights NGO Amnesty International revealing that the journalist's phone had been spied on by the authorities via spyware.
Rabat has always denied, accusing Amnesty of carrying out an
"international campaign of defamation".
Omar Radi claims to be the target of a “revenge” of power, provoked according to him by the publication of this report.
The investigation for rape opened at the end of July following a complaint from a colleague and friend of Omar Radi was closed at the end of November by the investigating judge.
Omar Radi carried out a 24-hour hunger strike on December 10, alongside Souleimane Raissouni, another journalist imprisoned since the end of May and suspected of sexual assault, to
"protest against their continued pre-trial detention without trial"
, according to a joint press release distributed by their supporters.
Souleimane Raissouni, 48, was remanded in custody following accusations by an activist for the rights of LGBT people (lesbians, gays, bi, trans).
The journalist claims his innocence.
Souleimane Raissouni's defenders denounced in a petition signed by around 100 people a
"targeting of journalists and human rights defenders critical of the authorities, with the same methods based on sexual accusations".
The two plaintiffs - the activist for LGBT rights and the woman who accuses Omar Radi of rape - denied having been instrumentalized.
Faced with criticism, the Moroccan authorities insist on respect for judicial procedures and the independence of the judiciary.