Morocco releases journalist Ali Lmrabet, resident of Barcelona, detained since Sunday

BarcelonaThe Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet, a neighbor from Barcelona, who had been detained since Sunday, has been released, as announced by the Casablanca Prosecutor's Office. "After reviewing and studying the various procedural documents, completing the investigation, and carrying out the necessary technical tests, the Prosecutor's Office has decided to release the individual and return the items that were confiscated from him, namely, two computers, a storage device, and a mobile phone," the statement details. Lmrabet has been interrogated and a medical examination has been performed on him. The investigation continues, but he has been informed that he can leave the country.

Lmrabet was arrested on Sunday after landing at Tangier airport, on charges of defamation and slander against institutions. He was then transferred to Casablanca, in a detention that triggered rejection from professional organizations, such as the College of Journalists of Catalonia, the Association of Investigative Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, the Barnils Group or the International Council for the Protection of Journalism, in addition to academic and human rights institutions, such as the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH). The release of the journalist, who also holds a French passport, came just hours before the official visit to Rabat by the French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, as part of a high-level bilateral meeting in the Moroccan capital.

Lmrabet, 66, lived in self-imposed exile in Barcelona, after Morocco banned him from practicing journalism between 2005 and 2015, and shut down the two weeklies he had founded, on charges of "insulting the king," among other charges. He had already been imprisoned in 2003 and released by royal pardon. Lmrabet is one of the most knowledgeable and critical voices of the Moroccan authorities, and has practiced rigorous and documented journalism in recent years, from his YouTube channel, where he has 125,000 followers. Lmrabet was one of the pioneers of the informational opening at the beginning of the reign of the current king, Mohammed VI, in 1999, with the magazines "The Journal and Tomorrow, which were closed. Among many other awards, in 2005 he was awarded the José Couso prize for press freedom.

Reporters Without Borders places Morocco in 105th place out of 180 in the press freedom ranking and has denounced "the perversion of justice in the service of repression" of critical voices, as was evident in cases such as that of journalist Omar Radi, who was imprisoned in December 2019 for a comment on X criticizing the sentences against the leaders of the Popular Movement of the Rif and was pardoned in July 2024, among other informants.

Pegasus Scandal

Also during his exile in Barcelona, Lmrabet continued to be the subject of surveillance by the Moroccan authorities, as was demonstrated in a forensic analysis of his mobile phone, which revealed that it was infected with Pegasus software and bore the mark of the Moroccan secret services. The same happened with the phone of journalist Ignacio Cembrero and of 50,000 other politicians, businessmen, and activists. These infiltrations were discovered in 2021, shortly after it was confirmed that the mobile phones of the Spanish president Pedro Sánchez, the Minister of Defense Margarita Robles, and the French president Emmanuel Macron, as well as some ministers of his government, had also been infected with the same spyware.