Moroccan authorities have detained Fouad Abdelmoumni, a prominent human rights activist, on accusations of fabricating a crime report and disseminating false information through social media.
Abdelmoumni’s arrest took place on Wednesday, and he will remain in custody while the police conduct their investigation, according to a statement released by a prosecutor in Casablanca on Thursday.
The arrest follows Abdelmoumni’s recent claims on Facebook, made during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Morocco, alleging that the Moroccan government was leveraging migration, intelligence, and espionage activities to influence France, though he provided no evidence for these assertions.
Macron’s visit to Morocco aims to mend diplomatic strains between the two countries, with migration among the key topics of discussion.
Souad Brahma, Abdelmoumni’s lawyer, condemned the arrest, describing it as a “violation of freedom of expression” and stating that it was motivated by Abdelmoumni’s political views and his outspokenness on social media.
