Laayoune : Nezha Khalidi fined for not having credentials to practice journalism

The court of first instance in Laayoune fined, Monday, Sahrawi activist Nezha Khalidi 4,000 dirhams for not having professional credentials to practice journalism, Spanish news agency EFE reports.

The ruling was published on the court’s website, indicating that Khalidi, who is a member of pro-Polisario group Equipe Media, can retrieve her confiscated phone.

Nezha Khalidi was arrested in December, 2018, for livestreaming on Facebook a street scene in Laayoune and denouncing «repression».

In May, New York-based NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the arrest of Khalidi, alleging that the Moroccan authorities are «using a law designed to keep people from falsely claiming professional credentials to bring criminal charges against people trying to expose abuses».

In June, Spanish news agency Europa Press reported that the Moroccan authorities expelled «three observers from the General Council of Spanish Lawyers and two others from the United States» who were planning to attend the trial of Nezha Khalidi.