Moroccan Journalist Ali Lmrabet Arrested at Tangier Airport on False Information Charges

Ali Lmrabet, a 66-year-old Moroccan journalist with dual French-Moroccan citizenship who has lived in Spain for years, was arrested Sunday evening at Tangier airport upon returning from Spain, Le Monde reported. He was charged with spreading false information and undermining state institutions and is scheduled to appear before a prosecutor on Monday, July 13.

Lmrabet told his wife that he was the subject of several arrest warrants related to the allegations.

He had not returned to Morocco for several years, with his last visit following the death of his father. Le Monde reported that Lmrabet previously published Demain Magazine and the Arabic-language Doumane in Morocco. Both publications were banned in 2003 after he was convicted of insulting the king.

He was sentenced to three years in prison but released in early 2004 under a royal pardon. He was banned from working in journalism in Morocco from April 2005 to April 2015 after a defamation conviction over comments on displaced Sahrawis living in the Tindouf refugee camps.

Reporters Without Borders stated that Lmrabet was accused of alleged dissemination of false information harmful to constitutional institutions.

The group called on Moroccan authorities to respect his procedural rights and guarantee access to a lawyer of his choice. Morocco's public prosecutor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.