Morocco pardons 3 journalists held for years

RABAT, Morocco 

Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Monday pardoned three journalists detained for years, as hundreds of prisoners saw their sentences commuted to mark the monarch's 25th anniversary on the throne.

Omar Radi, Soulaimane Raissouni and Taoufik Bouachrine, as well as historian and rights advocate Maati Monjib, were among the 2,476 people pardoned, a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Rights groups, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF), had denounced the jailings of Radi and Raissouni, detained since 2021 on charges of sexual assault they deny.

Human Rights Watch has accused Morocco of using criminal trials, especially for alleged sexual offenses, as "techniques of repression" to silence journalists and government critics.

The country's top court rejected in July 2023 the final appeals of two journalists.

Morocco ranked 129th out of 180 countries on RSF's 2024 World Press Freedom Index.