The 35-year-old reporter, known for his commitment to human rights and who had been spied on by the authorities using the Pegasus software, appeared on appeal on Tuesday. He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2021.
Moroccan journalist Omar Radi, sentenced to six years in prison at first instance, defended himself on Tuesday 22 February before the Casablanca Court of Appeal of having provided sensitive information to two British economic consulting firms, in connection with the accusations of “espionage” hanging over him.
Arrested in July 2020, this 35-year-old independent reporter, known for his commitment to human rights, is being prosecuted for “undermining the internal security of the State” but also for “rape”, two separate cases but heard and judged jointly.
His hearing on Tuesday focused on British economic consultancies K2 Consulting and G3 for which Mr. Radi carried out due diligence audit before acquiring or taking a stake in a company.
Mr. Radi carried out on behalf of G3 “a study” on a Moroccan firm specializing in money transfers for investment purposes, Cashplus. It is in this context that he had to deal with a Briton, Clive Newell, presented by the judicial police as an “intelligence officer”, while the Moroccan reporter designates him as an “advisor” of G3.
For K2 Consulting, he carried out a study on palm cultivation. “I only did my job as a journalist, relying on data open to the public such as that provided by the administrative court,” defended Mr. Radi.
Funding from a Swiss foundation
The espionage charges are also based on funding received from a foundation based in Geneva, Bertha, an organization defending ” disadvantaged populations”. “This is a scholarship granted to carry out journalistic work,” he said.
The espionage investigation was opened at the end of June 2020 after the publication of an Amnesty International report claiming that Mr. Radi’s phone was spied on by Moroccan authorities using Pegasus software.
On Friday, during a closed-door hearing, the journalist denied the rape charges while the complainant reaffirmed that she was not consenting, the civil party told Agence France-Presse. Mr. Radi was sentenced on July 19, 2021, to a six-year prison term, an “unfair judgment” according to his supporters.
He claims to be prosecuted because of his writings – in particular in favor of social movements and against corruption – and his critical opinions while the Moroccan authorities assure that his trial “has nothing to do with his journalistic work” and denounce an “international defamation campaign”.
