Morocco: wave of indignation after the broadcast of videos of Souleymane Raissouni in prison
Demonstrators protest for the release of journalists Omar Radi and Souleymane Raissouni in Rabat on May 25, 2021. AP - Mosa'ab Elshamy
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The broadcast of videos of journalist Souleymane Raissouni, filmed almost naked without his knowledge in a Moroccan prison, caused a wave of indignation in the country.
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Sentenced to five years in prison for "sexual assault
", the journalist was filmed without his knowledge.
On these images released by the Directorate General of the Prison Administration and Moroccan Reintegration, we see the journalist Souleymane Raissouni, almost naked.
According to his wife, Khouloud Mokhtari, this is a reaction from the prison authorities to the press release from the Moroccan Coalition of Human Rights Authorities, which expressed concern about Souleymane Raissouni's state of health and requested his hospitalization without delay.
The last time the Moroccan journalist appeared in court, on June 10, he staggered along, his thin body and skin on his bones.
According to his wife, these undated videos are old.
The videos are very old because I went to see Souleymane not even a month ago and his situation has deteriorated compared to the videos
Khouloud Mokhtari, wife of Souleymane Raissouni
Houda Ibrahim
The journalist has been on a hunger strike for 107 days to assert his innocence.
His supporters and his relatives
denounce a "
political trial
".
“
We urge that Raissouni be released pending an appeal trial.
After such a long hunger strike, his survival is at stake.
He deserves a fair trial
”, pleaded last Saturday
Reporters Without Borders in a press release.
Charges to which justice responded, via a press release, that the journalist's trial "
met all the conditions for a fair trial
" and that he was
“
Prosecuted for crimes that have nothing to do with his journalistic work
”.
Souleymane Raissouni was arrested in May 2020 after a Facebook post by the complainant - who uses a pseudonym - accusing him of having "
sexually assaulted
" him.
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