Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet detained after return from Spain

Prominent Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet was set to appear before a prosecutor on Monday after being detained on his return to Morocco from Spain, his wife told AFP.

Laura Feliu said Lmrabet, 66, called her at 7:00 pm on Sunday and told her he had been detained at Tangier airport over allegations of spreading false information and undermining state institutions. She said he told her he was the subject of several arrest warrants linked to the allegations.

Morocco’s public prosecutor did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

Reporters Without Borders said Lmrabet was accused of alleged dissemination of false information harmful to constitutional institutions, pending his hearing before the prosecutor. The press freedom group said it would monitor the case and called on Moroccan authorities to respect his procedural rights and guarantee access to a lawyer of his choice.

Lmrabet is a critic of the Moroccan government, a leading figure in Morocco’s independent press and holds dual French-Moroccan citizenship. His wife said he had not returned to Morocco for several years after the death of his father.

He 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, among other charges. He was sentenced to three years in prison and released in early 2004 under a royal pardon.

Lmrabet was later banned from working in journalism in Morocco from April 2005 to April 2015 after being convicted of defamation over comments about displaced Sahrawis living in the Tindouf refugee camps in southwestern Algeria.

Western Sahara, a mineral-rich former Spanish colony, has been largely controlled by Morocco since 1975 but is considered a non-self-governing territory by the United Nations. Morocco has long been in conflict with the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which seeks independence for the Sahrawi people.