For almost three years, award-winning Moroccan investigative journalist Omar Radi has been targeted with a series of legal suits that have been obstructing his work with a different set of accusations each time.
Awaiting his trial today, a number of protests take place in Casablanca and Rabat in support of Omar Radi, the 35-year old journalist who had founded independent Moroccan news website Le Desk in 2014, often deemed critical of the Moroccan government.
Journalist & rights activist Omar Radi has been in pretrial detention for over 8 months. His trial begins today. We are joining 14 other organizations to call on Moroccan authorities to release Omar Radi & ensure he receives a fair trial. https://t.co/KkZ6j7Zhm2#FreeOmarRadi pic.twitter.com/0WMon0IHRa
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) April 6, 2021
Omar Radi had won the investigative journalism award of International Media Support (IMS) in 2013 and gained recognition for an investigation that revealed shocking details about more than 100 senior officials in the Moroccan government for the illegal acquirement of state land.
In 2019, Omar Radi was arrested in Casablanca over a tweet criticizing a judge who had sentenced political figures leading the 2016 and 2017 anti-government protests, for more than 20 years in jail. In his tweet, Radi had called judge Lahcen Tolfi a "henchman" who "carried out orders" from higher up."
In June 2020, Omar Radi's name was amongst a number of Moroccan journalists' who were revealed to have been tracked and hacked by the NSO-developed Pegasus spyware.
469 days behind bars. @OmarRADI stay strong brother. Ashamed of this https://t.co/apBDmyML3P
— Youssef Oulhote (@aynumazi) November 10, 2021
#Morocco: Journalist Omar Radi will appear in court today on appeal. His trial so far has been marred by breaches to the principle of fair trial and he has been in solitary confinement since July 2020. Join us in calling on Moroccan authorities to ensure fair trial for Omar Radi pic.twitter.com/wIgiLcpoIP
— Amnesty MENA (@AmnestyMENA) November 25, 2021
A month later, Omar Radi was accused of rape and sexual assault by a colleague at Le Desk, with whom Radi had claimed to have a consensual relationship.
Finally, Omar Radi is now facing allegations of espionage, over sums of money he had received from foreign entities.
According to Amnesty International which describes the attacks on Radi as an attempt to silence and punish him for his work against government corruption, he had indeed received the money from international media organizations in the form of fellowships to help fund his investigative journalistic projects.
Radi's trial continues this week following his appeal, after denying allegations of espionage.
