MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation of journalists in Morocco, notably the case of Omar Radi

17.1.2023 - (2023/2506(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Anna Fotyga, Karol Karski, Angel Dzhambazki, Witold Jan Waszczykowski, Andżelika Anna Możdżanowska, Joachim Stanisław Brudziński, Elżbieta Kruk, Bogdan Rzońca, Elżbieta Rafalska, Ryszard Czarnecki, Valdemar Tomaševski, Zbigniew Kuźmiuk, Assita Kanko, Carlo Fidanza, Eugen Jurzyca, Adam Bielan
on behalf of the ECR Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0057/2023

B9‑0073/2023

European Parliament resolution on the situation of journalists in Morocco, notably the case of Omar Radi

(2023/2506(RSP))

The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part,

 

–  having regard to the Joint declaration by the European Union and Morocco for the fourteenth meeting of the Association Council of 29 June 2019,

 

–  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

 

–  having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of 1966,

 

–  having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

 

1. whereas one of the aims of EU-Morocco relationship is to facilitate an alignment around the partnership’s founding and guiding principles, inter alia on human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of expression;

 

2. whereas reports indicate that media freedom in Morocco has considerably decreased over the past decades; whereas Morocco ranks 135th out of 180 countries on the 2022 World Press Freedom Index;

 

3. whereas Omar Radi is serving a six-year sentence on rape and espionage charges that was upheld on appeal on 4 March 2022; whereas the espionage charges emerged from Omar Radi’s contacts with diplomats at the Dutch embassy in Rabat; whereas the Dutch government has strongly rejected the allegations of espionage activities for the Dutch embassy in talks with the Moroccan authorities;

 

4. whereas Omar Radi was jailed for the first time in December 2019 for criticising a judge’s decision to jail participants in the so-called “Hirak” protests in northern Morocco’s Rif region in 2016 and 2017; whereas he also did investigative reporting on the seizure of public land by speculators and was responsible for exposing the so-called “state servants” corruption scandal, in which around 100 people, including high level officials, were implicated; whereas observers consider the charges against Omar Radi politically motivated, given that Radi expressed opinions critical to the government in the media and on social media during the two years prior to his arrest;

 

 

 

 

1. Calls on the Moroccan government to ensure fair trial in particular in case of serious allegations as espionage, in particular in the case of Omar Radi, where doubts about credibility of evidence have been publicly raised by the international community, including independent observers and lawyers;

 

2. Expresses concern at the deteriorating media freedom conditions in Morocco; is worried about the allegedly politically motivated detention of Omar Radi and other journalists; calls for the release of Omar Radi;

 

3. Calls of the EU delegation in Rabat to closely monitor the case and raise the matter with their Moroccan interlocutors at different political levels;

 

4. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Kingdom of Morocco, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commission and the Council.