JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation of journalists in Morocco, notably the case of Omar Radi
18.1.2023 - (2023/2506(RSP))
replacing the following motions:
B9‑0057/2023 (The Left)
B9‑0061/2023 (Renew)
B9‑0065/2023 (Verts/ALE)
B9‑0071/2023 (S&D)
B9‑0073/2023 (ECR)
Pedro Marques, Thijs Reuten, Evin Incir
on behalf of the S&D Group
Georgios Kyrtsos, Petras Auštrevičius, José Ramón Bauzá Díaz, Katalin Cseh, Vlad Gheorghe, Klemen Grošelj, Svenja Hahn, Karen Melchior, Javier Nart, Urmas Paet, Dragoş Pîslaru, María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Michal Šimečka, Nicolae Ştefănuță, Ramona Strugariu, Hilde Vautmans
on behalf of the Renew Group
Tineke Strik
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
Anna Fotyga, Karol Karski, Assita Kanko, Angel Dzhambazki, Anna Zalewska, Elżbieta Kruk, Adam Bielan, Carlo Fidanza, Bogdan Rzońca, Elżbieta Rafalska, Ryszard Czarnecki, Witold Jan Waszczykowski
on behalf of the ECR Group
Miguel Urbán Crespo
on behalf of The Left Group
Fabio Massimo Castaldo
European Parliament resolution on the situation of journalists in Morocco, notably the case of Omar Radi
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Rule 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas independent investigative journalist Omar Radi, who covered Hirak protests and state corruption scandals, has been detained since July 2020 and sentenced to six years in prison on trumped-up charges of espionage, as well as on rape charges in July 2021; whereas his sentence was upheld on appeal in March 2022; whereas numerous due process guarantees were violated, rendering the trial inherently unfair and biased; whereas these violations included prolonged pre-trial detention of one year without justification and prevention of access to his case file and two key defence witnesses, who were prevented from appearing in court; whereas Mr Radi has appealed to the Court of Cassation; whereas he was awarded the 2022 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize;
B. whereas journalist Taoufik Bouachrine has been detained since February 2018 and was sentenced on appeal in September 2021 to 15 years in prison for sexual offences; whereas there were major violations of due process guarantees in the case of Soulaiman Raissouni, who in February 2022 received a five-year prison sentence for sexual offences in an unfair trial;
C. whereas press freedom in Morocco has been continuously deteriorating, dropping to 135th place in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index; whereas numerous journalists, e.g. Ignacio Cembrero, have been under digital surveillance, been intimidated and judicially harassed, and sentenced to long prison sentences, e.g. Maati Monjib;
1. Urges the Moroccan authorities to respect freedom of expression and media freedom, guarantee imprisoned journalists, in particular Omar Radi, Souleiman Raissouni and Taoufik Bouachrine, a fair trial with all due process guarantees, secure their immediate provisional release and cease the harassment of all journalists, their lawyers and families; urges the authorities to fulfil their international human rights obligations in line with the EU-Morocco Association Agreement;
2. Strongly condemns the misuse of allegations of sexual assault to deter journalists from performing their duties; believes that this misuse endangers women’s rights;
3. Is concerned about allegations that the Moroccan authorities have tried to corrupt Members of the European Parliament;
4. Urges the Moroccan authorities to end their surveillance of journalists, including via NSO’s Pegasus spyware, and to enact and implement legislation to protect them; urges Member States to stop exporting surveillance technology to Morocco, in line with the Dual-Use Regulation;
5. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of 2018 Sakharov Prize finalist Nasser Zefzafi; calls for the release of all political prisoners; condemns the violations of the rights of peaceful protesters and diaspora activists; deplores the flawed trials and convictions of 43 Hirak protesters, as well as their torture in prison;
6. Calls for the EU and its Member States to continue raising with the Moroccan authorities the cases of detained journalists and prisoners of conscience and attend their trials; calls for the EU to use its leverage towards concrete improvements in the human rights situation in Morocco;
7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the relevant parties.