A Moroccan court has extended YouTuber Mohamed Reda Taoujini’s prison sentence to four years on defamation charges.
Taoujini’s lawyer condemned the ruling as “very severe.”
Taoujini, a popular YouTuber with over 490,000 subscribers, was initially arrested and sentenced to two years in February.
Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi filed the defamation complaints after Taoujini suggested links between the minister and a major drug trafficking network, known as the “Escobar of the Sahara” affair.
In videos posted on his channel, Taoujini raised questions about Ouahbi’s potential involvement in the drug scandal.
On Tuesday, an appeal court extended Taoujini’s sentence to four years, sparking criticism from his lawyer Redouane Arabi.
The “Escobar of the Sahara” case emerged late last year with the arrest of two Moroccan officials belonging to Ouahbi’s PAM party.
The investigation targets a large-scale drug trafficking ring, with 25 suspects currently facing charges including drug possession, distribution, and corruption.
Authorities believe the suspects are linked to Hadj Ahmed Ben Brahim, a Malian serving a 10-year sentence for international drug trafficking in Morocco.
Nicknamed the “Pablo Escobar of the Sahara,” Ben Brahim was arrested in 2019 after a record seizure of 40 tonnes of hashish.
