A former Moroccan Minister of human Rights, Mohamed Ziane, has been given a five-year jail term in a corruption case that his attorney describes as retribution for outspokenness and work defending political prisoners.
An appeals court in Rabat handed down the sentence after a hearing in which it found Ziane and two other colleagues guilty of corruption and embezzling from their political party during Morocco’s 2015 election campaign.
His Lawyer, who is also his son Ali Reda Ziane, denies the charges faced by his father and his two colleagues and added that the court had not followed typical procedures in the case or any of its appeals, all 17 of which the defense lost.
He also linked the proceedings to his father’s defense of journalists and activists who had faced charges for unrelated offenses after criticizing the government.
In a statement Sunday, the Moroccan Association In Support of Political Prisoners called the charges arbitrary and the proceedings unfair, describing the case against Ziane as “purely political.
The verdict also marks the latest development in one of the freedom of expression cases that has drawn condemnation from Morocco’s international allies and human rights organizations.
It supplements a three-year sentence issued in 2022, in which Ziane was found guilty of 11 charges including defamation, adultery, sexual harassment and insulting a public official.
Ziane was among those profiled in a 2022 Human Rights Watch report on how Morocco has harshly cracked down on the freedom of expression of those critical of its government.
In 2023, Amnesty International said Ziane’s legal troubles were based on “bogus charges that stem from his work defending activists, journalists and victims of human rights abuses.
However, Morocco’s government dismissed the report as biased and said it was full of false allegations. The government spokesperson did not respond to questions about Ziane’s sentencing on Monday.
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