TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
University Reporters Unity
University Reporters Unity
Jail for Facebook spoof Moroccan: Protest Now to save Mr Mourtada
Related to country: Morocco

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Jail for Facebook spoof Moroccan
A Moroccan computer engineer has been sentenced to three years in jail for setting up a Facebook profile in the name of a member of the royal family.
Fouad Mourtada was arrested on 5 February on suspicion of stealing the identity of Prince Moulay Rachid, younger brother of King Mohammed VI.

The Casablanca court also ordered Mr Mourtada, 26, to pay a $1,300 fine.

The prosecution had urged the court to impose a sentence which set an example for others.

Mr Mourtada was convicted of "villainous practices linked to the alleged theft of the [prince's] identity".

In his defence, he said he admired the prince, and that the Facebook entry was just intended to be a bit of fun.

'Beaten unconscious'

A website supporting him published a letter addressed to the prince apologising for the incident.

The letter, reportedly penned by Mr Mourtada's family, requested clemency.

"Fouad Mourtada, like thousands of people who create fake profiles of well-known personalities or celebrities on Facebook, has in no way acted in a willingness to cause nuisance to Your Highness, for whom he has always shown the greatest of respect," the letter on the Help Fouad website reads.

Earlier this week some Moroccan bloggers went "on strike", suspending their regular blog entries for 24 hours in protest at Mr Mourtada's detention.

According to the website, he told family members who visited him in jail that he had been blindfolded and beaten unconscious at the time of his arrest.


February 23, 2008 | 5:56 AM Comments  0 comments

Tags:
You must be logged in to add tags.


M@University's Profile


Latest Posts
Did Michael Jackson's...
Bangladeshi Opposition...
My frankly reply to...
There is a good(?)...
How the very brilliant...

Monthly Archive
October 2006
March 2007
April 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
August 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009

Change Language


Tags Archive
2.0 le news of ulma web

Filter By Type
Travel
Topics


22308 views
Important Disclaimer