Moroccan Blogger Cleared On Appeal

A Moroccan man who criticized the King of Morocco on his blog has been cleared of his two-year sentence.

Mohamed Erraji was arrested and fined the equivalent of $626 after posted on his blog comments that King Mohammed VI and the rest of the royal family did little to help the struggling North African kingdom.

“The case is not acceptable and the case was abandoned and thrown out of court,” said Ahmed Belouch, the presiding judge at the appeals court in the southern city of Agadir.

Erraji wrote in online newspaper Hespress that Morocco had been destroyed by the practice of handing out charity or gifts such as taxi licences to a lucky few, which encouraged people to beg.

“This has made the Moroccans a people without dignity, who live by donations and gifts,” he wrote in reference to the King’s charity work.

Judge Belouch cited flaws in prosecuting the case of the 29-year-old blogger, including the failure to summon him to attend trial 15 days before he actually appeared in court and his unlawful detention ahead of the trial.

Family members and human rights groups said police arrested Erraji on September 5th and his trial lasted 10 minutes. He had no defense lawyer.

Erraji gained a global following because of his case, with such social networks as Facebook rallying in support of him.

Morocco has been allowing greater freedom of expression recently, but criticisms of the monarchy remain taboo.

Article includes reports from Reuters