chargement...
Activist Zineb Kharroubi was handed a six-month suspended prison sentence on Monday by the Casablanca Court of First Instance after being convicted of «incitement to commit crimes or offences by electronic means». She was also ordered to pay a fine of 5,000 dirhams. Citing her lawyer, El Hassan Essonni, AFP reported that the France-based member of the GenZ 212 collective appeared in court while free, having been arrested on February 12 upon her arrival at Marrakech airport.
According to Kharroubi's defense team, the charges stemmed from social media posts «calling for a gathering» outside the Moroccan embassy in Paris, published by the youth movement that spearheaded social and political protests in September and October 2025. Similar gatherings were subsequently organized in several European capitals after demonstrations took place in a number of Moroccan cities, calling for reforms in the health and education sectors and an «end to corruption».
«Although the sentence is relatively lenient, the conviction came as a surprise because nothing in the facts of the case justifies such a decision,» Essonni told AFP. He had pleaded for his client's acquittal, arguing that «demonstrating is not a crime in Morocco». Prosecutors had sought a conviction but did not specify the sentence they were requesting.
Under the Penal Code, Kharroubi had faced a prison sentence ranging from three months to five years, as well as a fine of up to 100,000 dirhams.
