Witchy Woman

"The Marrakesh Court of Appeals in Morocco has upheld a lower court's guilty verdict against an 18-year-old student for insulting the King. Yassin Bellasal was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison term and a fine of 1,000 dirhams (approximately US $115). Amnesty International said that the verdict serves to confirm that the monarchy remains a "taboo" topic in Morocco and shed a different light on the image projected by the Moroccan authorities of a state, where respect for human rights has greatly improved.

A number of human rights defenders, journalists and others have been prosecuted in recent years, and in some cases sentenced to prison terms, for peacefully expressing views deemed by the authorities to be critical of or offensive to the King.

Yassine Bellasal was sentenced on 28 September by the Court of First Instance in Marrakesh. In addition to the one year prison term, he was fined 1,000 dirhams. He was charged with insulting King Mohamed VI after he wrote on his school wall “God, The Nation, Barça”, in a play of words on the country’s motto “God, The Nation, The King." According to his family, his intent was only to express his support for the FC Barcelona football team."