Moroccan bloggers react to Facebook fraud case

26/02/2008

Maghreb bloggers discussed the arrest of Moroccan Fouad Mourtada, accused of impersonating Moroccan Prince Moulay Rachid on his Facebook profile.

[helpfouad.com] The family of Fouad Mourtada has launched a website in an effort to prevent further punishment of the 26-year-old Facebook user, who was sentenced to three years prison for creating a profile in the name of Prince Moulay Rachid.

A group of Moroccan bloggers went on a 24-hour strike last Tuesday (February 19th), in solidarity with Fouad Mourtada, hoping their action might spare him punishment.

Mourtada, a 26-year-old from the small south-eastern locality of Goulmima, was charged with impersonating Prince Moulay Rachid on Facebook. On February 22nd, he was convicted of identity theft and sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a 10,000-dirham fine.

"[I] did not send any message from that account to anyone…the account was just a joke; a gag… I never thought that by creating a profile of his highness prince Moulay Rachid I am harming him in any way," stated Mourtada on helpfouad.com, a website launched by his family.

Larbi described the trial as setting "an unacceptable precedent: we can now pursue any internet user".

"Fouad's only mistake … is to be born in wrong place of the world…Horrible!" blogged Larbi in reaction to the verdict.

Larbi apologised to Fouad's family that the bloggers' solidarity and 24-hour strike "did not serve him". "Today," he added, "I am ashamed of this country!"

"I've lost faith in Morocco and the entire Moroccan justice system," wrote Myrtus. "I am a second generation Moroccan-Dutch citizen, and I am a traditionalist. I've always been proud of my Moroccan roots and I've always respected Morocco's constitutional monarchy as an integral part of our national unity and a great source of pride, and held it in high regard. This is the first time in my life that I can honestly say, that sense of pride has been diminished," added the blogger.

In a post entitled "The Cruelty Principle", Eatbees wrote, "Shouldn’t young people be able to say what they like on the internet, even if it is foolish? Isn’t that what youth is about? If I were Prince Rachid, I would feel ashamed to hear that Fouad had been abducted by the police, slapped around for 24 hours, prevented from contacting his family for a week, then brought to trial on trumped-up charges, all to protect my good name.

In his reaction, Lionne d'Atlas wrote that if he were a judge, he would know "the Minister of Justice did not offer me the right training to dive into technology law. I would have humbly admitted the specificity of this law, which is more one of computer specialists than of jurists."

"I always hoped that my country would be first in something," offered blogger Lady Zee, "no matter the distinction."

"But today, Morocco is the first country to have put a citizen in jail for Facebook. Here I have my distinction. Once again we have succeeded to make ourselves noticed for the wrong reasons," she concluded.

"I am closing my Facebook account," blogged Un MacUser a Marrakech, "for two reasons. One, I am fed-up with social networks... I prefer to meet my friends in reality. Two, in support of Fouad Mourtada. This affair has darkened Morocco's image in the international community, and it is not going to stop," he added.