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DigiActive News: Fouad Mourtada is Free!
Written by Mary Joyce on March 19, 2008 – 12:19 am -It is with great joy that we break this story. This is a huge victory for digital activism. Thank you to all the people who supported the campaign, both online and offline!
CASABLANCA, March 18 - Fouad Mourtada was released from Oukacha Prison at approximately 8:00pm local time today, having received a royal pardon.
Mr. Mourtada, a 26-year old IT engineer, was taken into custody on February 5th, 2008, and was questioned regarding a fake Facebook profile of King Mohammed VI’s younger brother, Prince Moulay Rachid, which he had created on January 15. During his interrogation, Mr. Mourtada reports that he was beaten, spat on and insulted.
On February 22, Mr. Mourtada was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of $1350 for creating the fake profile. The official charge was identity fraud of an electronic document.
Following Mr. Mourtada’s detention, an international online movement arose calling for his release and, following sentencing, for a full pardon. On Saturday, March 1, young activists used a Facebook group to organize worldwide protests opposing Mr. Mourtada’s imprisonment, which occurred in Rabat, Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Washington DC, Montreal, Madrid, and London. A video of the protests was later posted on YouTube.
Mentions by international news organizations, such as the BBC, encouraged Moroccan domestic media to take up the story, which increase pressure on the government to act.
Tonight Mr. Mourtada is staying at the house of friend in Casablanca. He will retain to his family tomorrow.
Tags: helpfouad, morocco
Posted in DigiActive News |
9 Responses to “DigiActive News: Fouad Mourtada is Free!”
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5 Trackback(s)
- Mar 19, 2008: Fouad Mourtada is free at The Arabist
- Mar 19, 2008: The Morocco Report » Reactions to Fouad Mourtada’s release
- Mar 20, 2008: …My heart’s in Accra » links for 2008-03-20
- Mar 28, 2008: "The Cute Cat Theory | onLine haber,online bilgi
- Nov 20, 2008: Some observations on Morocco « ACCOUNTABILITY 2.0
By Alberto Precht on Mar 19, 2008 | Reply
I will write in my language…
Sin duda somos muchos los que estamos muy contentos por la liberacion de Fouad, se hizo justicia, y hemos demostrado que el ciberactivismo puede ser muy efectivo.
un fuerte abrazo para todos los qe hicieron esto posible.
Desde Chile
By Mary on Mar 19, 2008 | Reply
sí, un gran dia para el ciberactivismo y la justicia y para Fouad.
By Chris Blow on Mar 19, 2008 | Reply
Cheers!
Great to learn about this!
By Juliana on Mar 19, 2008 | Reply
Great news! I wish him and his family well as they recover from this tough ordeal.