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A Moroccan court last week sentenced a man to three years in prison for creating a Facebook page under the name Prince Moulay Rachid.
Just weeks after posting the spoof profile, Fouad Mourtada was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before standing trial on charges of "villainous practices" and royal identity theft. Rachid is the brother of Morocco's king Mohamed VI, who may not know that there are literally thousands of phony profiles on Facebook, none of which is taken seriously.
In an effort to bring attention to his story, Mourtada's friends and family have created the Committee of Support for Fouad Mourtada, which released a statement alleging that he has been "persecuted, beaten up, slapped, spat on and insulted" since he was arrested Feb. 5. Morocco's security services deny torturing him.
Since the allegations were made, the Moroccan blogosphere has ignited in protest. That animosity quickly spread across the world. Further fueling the outrage are Facebook groups such as Help Fouad Mourtada - Aidez Fouad Mourtada, which is just a few weeks old yet has thousands of members. The group is planning a peaceful protest outside the Moroccan Embassy in Paris this Saturday.
Amina Mourtada, Fouad's sister, told me that their family "is suffering a lot." She would like her brother to be released immediately. Morocco should not want to go down in history, she said, as the first country to torture and imprison someone "for having created a profile on Facebook." As for Mourtada himself, he issued a statement saying that he built the page as a tribute to Prince Rachid. "I admire him," he said.
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Just weeks after posting the spoof profile, Fouad Mourtada was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before standing trial on charges of "villainous practices" and royal identity theft. Rachid is the brother of Morocco's king Mohamed VI, who may not know that there are literally thousands of phony profiles on Facebook, none of which is taken seriously.
In an effort to bring attention to his story, Mourtada's friends and family have created the Committee of Support for Fouad Mourtada, which released a statement alleging that he has been "persecuted, beaten up, slapped, spat on and insulted" since he was arrested Feb. 5. Morocco's security services deny torturing him.
Since the allegations were made, the Moroccan blogosphere has ignited in protest. That animosity quickly spread across the world. Further fueling the outrage are Facebook groups such as Help Fouad Mourtada - Aidez Fouad Mourtada, which is just a few weeks old yet has thousands of members. The group is planning a peaceful protest outside the Moroccan Embassy in Paris this Saturday.
Amina Mourtada, Fouad's sister, told me that their family "is suffering a lot." She would like her brother to be released immediately. Morocco should not want to go down in history, she said, as the first country to torture and imprison someone "for having created a profile on Facebook." As for Mourtada himself, he issued a statement saying that he built the page as a tribute to Prince Rachid. "I admire him," he said.
more here