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Morocco Sentences Young Man to One Year in Prison Over Migration Videos Posted Online
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Crime & Justice

Morocco Sentences Young Man to One Year in Prison Over Migration Videos Posted Online

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • A court in Tangier sentenced 28-year-old Yassine El Mrabet to one year in prison after he posted videos about living conditions in Morocco and migration to Spain.
  • Prosecutors accused him of encouraging crimes through electronic media and insulting public officials.
  • His family and a human rights group said the trial lacked legal representation because of a nationwide lawyers’ strike and called his arrest arbitrary.

A court in Tangier sentenced a 28-year-old man to one year in prison after he posted social-media videos criticizing conditions in Morocco and showing aspects of migration toward Spain.

detained arbitrarily

— Abderrahim El MrabetThe defendant’s brother described how he said the arrest took place at the young man’s workplace.

The First Instance Court convicted Yassine El Mrabet of "inciting the commission of crimes through electronic media" and "insulting public officials," according to a statement from the Moroccan Association of Human Rights. The hearing took place without legal representation because of a nationwide lawyers’ strike. El Mrabet’s family and the rights group said that circumstance undermined the guarantees of a fair trial.

His brother, Abderrahim El Mrabet, said plainclothes police arrested him at his workplace in Tangier. Authorities later questioned him about posts on Facebook and Instagram, which they removed. The videos included critical comments such as "there is nothing to do in this country" and "what a shame, these auxiliary forces agents are not educated," accompanied by music associated with harraga, a movement linked to irregular migration.

there is nothing to do in this country

— Yassine El MrabetA phrase attributed to the videos authorities removed from social media.

The footage also showed migrants crossing a border, emojis bearing the flags of Spain and the European Union, and a boat resembling a patera carrying dozens of young people. His brother said El Mrabet had not tried to enter Ceuta irregularly and had instead posted videos he had recorded or shared.

what a shame, these auxiliary forces agents are not educated

— Yassine El MrabetAnother critical phrase attributed to the videos.

Hakim Sikouk, president of the Rabat branch of the rights association, said the protest songs addressed unemployment, limited access to health care and young people’s desire to leave Morocco. The association held a solidarity demonstration outside the court and demanded El Mrabet’s release, calling the case part of systematic harassment of freedom of opinion and expression. The Democratic Way of Workers’ Youth also said the authorities were pushing younger generations toward dangerous boat crossings and forced migration.

toward the boat of death and forced migration

— Democratic Way of Workers’ YouthThe organization criticized the authorities after El Mrabet’s conviction.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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