The European Parliament adopted, this Thursday, January 19, 2023, a text severely criticizing the deterioration of press freedom in Morocco. MEPs pointed the finger at the actions of the Cherifian kingdom and said they were “concerned” by the allegations of corruption weighing on Rabat and certain elected officials.
After the corruption scandal that shook the European Parliament, MEPs are now adopting a resolution calling on “the Moroccan authorities to respect freedom of expression and freedom of the media and to guarantee imprisoned journalists a fair trial with all the guarantees of due process”.
Indeed, MEPs voted yesterday, during a plenary session in Strasbourg, on a text severely criticizing the deterioration of press freedom in Morocco. Very widely adopted, with 356 votes for, 32 against and 42 abstentions, the text of less than 500 words “strongly condemns the misuse of sexual assault allegations to deter journalists from carrying out their duties” and “believes that these abuses endanger the rights of women”.
The MEPs particularly highlighted the case of Omar Radi, “a Moroccan journalist known for his positions critical of the government. Arrested in 2020 and sentenced on appeal in March to six years in prison for “rape” and “espionage”.
Corruption in the European Parliament: the Strasbourg Assembly “concerned”
In addition, the text of the European Parliament also evokes the recent corruption scandal which overwhelms Morocco and certain elected members of the Assembly. To this end, the MEPs said they were “concerned by the allegations that the Moroccan authorities have tried to corrupt elected members of the European Parliament”.
According to the Spaniard Miguel Urban Crespo, of the group of the unified left, at the origin of this resolution, “it will have taken more than twenty years and a corruption scandal like the “Marocgate” for the European Parliament to finally be able to talk about the Morocco and human rights”. Because the adoption of this text is a first for more than twenty years.
However, the European Parliament reaffirmed its determination “to fully investigate cases of corruption involving third countries seeking influence in the European Parliament”. Moreover, it should be remembered that this scandal erupted after “the arrest of the Vice-President of the European Parliament, the Greek Eva Kaili and her companion, Francesco Giorgi. But also the former Italian MEP Antonio Panzeri and the French MP Gilles Pargneaux”.
