CPJ has joined 41 other rights groups urging Moroccan authorities to immediately release journalist Taoufik Bouachrine 1 , former editor-in-chief of local independent newspaper Akhbar al-Youm, on the fifth anniversary of his arrest in 2018.
Bouachrine is serving a 15-year prison sentence on sexual assault charges that were brought in retaliation for his reporting. The joint statement also called for the release of imprisoned journalists Omar Radi 2 and Soulaiman Raissouni 3 .
The statement came shortly after the European Parliament criticized the deterioration of press freedom in Morocco in a January resolution 4 on the situation of journalists in the kingdom. CPJ asked the European Union to renew pressure 5 on Moroccan authorities to release the three imprisoned reporters 6 .
The joint statement can be found here 7 .
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists 8 and was authored by Madeline Earp.