The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPP) has called on the EU to increase its pressure on Morocco to release three journalists it believes are being persecuted for exercising their profession.
The CPP specifically calls on the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, to «renew his pressure on the Moroccan authorities to release the detained journalists and put an end to the arbitrary surveillance of journalists» and for Brussels to «strengthen its calls for respect for freedom of expression».
Last week, a European Parliament resolution expressed concern about the deterioration of press freedom in the country and warned about the situation of Omar Radi, accused of sexual offenses.
The CPP warns of the situation of two other journalists, Suleiman Raisuni and Taufik Buajrin. Raisuni is the editor of the independent newspaper ‘Ajbar al Yum’ and was arrested on May 22 and sentenced to five years in prison for sexual assault, while Buajrin, a columnist for the same newspaper, was arrested on February 23, 2018 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for, among others, a sexual assault offense.
Rasi is an investigative journalist working for the independent portal Le Desk who was arrested on July 29, 2020 following an investigation into land expropriation. He has been sentenced to six years in prison for undermining state security and sexual assault.
«Journalists and press freedom advocates have assured the CPP that the charges brought against Radi, Rasuni and Buajrin are fabricated and were brought in retaliation for their work,» the CPP explained in a statement.
The CPP therefore calls on the European External Action Service to «use all possible diplomatic and political means to secure their release.»
The CPP has also referred to allegations of the use of the Israeli spying software Pegasus. «Moroccan journalists have been among the first to identify the malicious use of spyware against journalists in 2015,» the CPP stresses. Radi, Rasuni and Buajrin are on the list of journalists spied on with Pegasus.
It therefore urges Borrell to «renew calls on the Moroccan government to independently investigate the findings of Project Pegasus.» «We also urge him to support calls for all member states to stop exporting harmful surveillance technology to Morocco,» the text concludes.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
