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«The Moroccan government is going to attack me once again and again anytime I try to document the violations or try to do journalism», Sahrawi activist Nezha Khalidi, was was arrested and tried for not having credentials to practice journalism, told Euronews Thursday.
Days after she was fined 4,000 dirhams by a court in Laayoune, Khalidi denounced the alleged «lack of press freedom in Western Sahara imposed by Morocco», claiming that she was prevented from «documenting alleged police violence towards the Sahrawi».
«I want to denounce the media blockade that Morocco is imposing on the territory of Western Sahara. We are also asking for more international pressure on Morocco and that international watchdog gain access into the territory in order to document the human rights violations towards the Sahwari people», she added.
For the record, Nezha Khalidi was arrested in December, 2018, for livestreaming on Facebook a street scene in Laayoune.
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.
