The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Morocco: a blogger sentenced to prison for insulting Islam

2022-08-16T20:17:03.805Z


Fatema Karim, 39, is accused of making fun of Quran verses on her Facebook page. She announces that she is appealing this decision.


A Moroccan blogger was sentenced to two years in prison on Monday for "

undermining the Muslim religion

" after posting posts on Facebook deemed offensive to Islam, her brother told AFP on Tuesday (August 16th).

Fatema Karim, 39, was questioned by police on July 15 and has been in detention since, Bouazza Karim said.

She was tried for having commented in a satirical tone, in Arabic on her Facebook page, on verses from the Koran and hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad, considered sacred in Muslim tradition.

The blogger, who intends to appeal, pleaded her right to freedom of expression, guaranteed by the Moroccan Constitution, before the judge, added her brother.

She also publicly apologized to "

anyone who felt offended

" by her publications, claiming that she never intended to undermine Islam, the state religion in Morocco.

Read alsoPierre Vermeren: "Despite the defeat of the Islamists in the legislative elections, Morocco is far from having turned the page on political Islam"

The prison sentence was pronounced Monday by the court of first instance of Oued Zem, 150 km from Casablanca.

This verdict is very severe.

It sends us back years

”, regretted Bouazza Karim.

The proceedings were initiated by the prosecution.

Article 267-5 of the Moroccan Penal Code, under which Fatima Karim was sentenced, punishes with six months to two years in prison “

anyone who undermines the Muslim religion

”.

The penalty is likely to be increased to five years in prison if the offense is committed in public -- "

including by electronic means

".

The same article 267 severely punishes any "

attack on the monarchical regime

" and any "

incitement to undermine the territorial integrity

" of the kingdom.

Read alsoMorocco: journalist Soulaimane Raissouni sentenced on appeal to five years in prison

Human rights defenders denounce this text of law which hinders freedom of expression and whose wording "

does not specify the facts which could constitute an attack

".

In June 2021, an Italian-Moroccan woman was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by the Moroccan justice system for "

undermining the Muslim religion

" after posting satirical phrases on Facebook imitating verses from the Koran.

The young woman was released shortly after, her sentence having been reduced on appeal to a two-month suspended prison sentence, following a protest campaign by human rights defenders.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-08-16

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.