Morocco: historian Maati Monjib sentenced to one year in prison
Audio 00:57
Moroccan historian, journalist and human rights activist Maati Monjib.
© Maâti Monjib
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The 60-year-old intellectual and human rights defender, who in the past openly accused his country of "terrorizing journalists and opponents in general", is currently in preventive detention.
He could not even attend the hearing which takes place on Wednesday.
His trial was opened in 2015. It was officially to shed light on embezzlement related to the management of a center created by Maati Monjib to promote independent journalism.
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I am scandalized by this decision.
It is almost a measure of revenge against Mr. Maati Monjib unfortunately, because for almost five years that we come to the hearing, that the judge has sent back the file, and nobody believed to be able to close this abusive procedure.
And now that he's not here, we are rushing to sentence him to one year in violation of all the defenses that should be respected by the court and by the judge who ruled.
We did not summon him, we did not invite him, we did not transport him to the hearing to defend himself.
How a justice can condemn someone who is unable to defend himself.
That's it.
How to explain this decision?
Can we qualify it as a normal procedure?
No it's impossible.
It is an abuse of rights.
It is an unfair decision.
That's all!
Maître Abderrahim Jamaï, lawyer for Maati Monjib and former president of the bar
Carine Frenk
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