The Fouad Mourtada Affair

Fouad Mourtada is a 26-year old Moroccan engineer who was sentenced by a Casablanca court to three years in prison for creating a fake profile of the king’s brother on Facebook. He was convicted on February 23^rd, 2008 of “villainous practices linked to the alleged theft" of the Crown Prince Moulay Rachid's identity. Fouad was sentenced to 3 years of jail plus a USD 1,350 fine. [cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7258950.stm
title = Jail for Facebook spoof Moroccan
publisher = BBC News] [cite web
url = http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080310/lalami
title = The Fake Prince of Facebook
publisher = The Nation]

Timeline

According to Maghreb Arab Presse "members of the royal family have neither web sites nor blogs, and the only official way to obtain information about them is through the portal of the Maghreb Arab Press Agency (MAP-national)".

According to [http://helpfouad.com/1001.html Help Free Fouad] web site, one week after his disappearance and imprisonment by the Moroccan police on Tuesday, February 5^th, Fouad's family was able to visit him on Tuesday, February 12^th afternoon at Oukacha jail in Casablanca, Morocco. Fouad had stated that he was embarked, blindfolded, interrogated, persecuted, beaten up, slapped, spat on, slammed for hours with a tool on the head and the legs until he lost consciousness several times and lost the notion of time [cite web
url = http://paris.indymedia.org/article.php3?id_article=95158
title = Affaire Facebook au Maroc : Fouad Mourtada a été torturé
publisher = Indymedia
language = French] .

Concerning the Facebook account, Fouad indicated that he created the account (about the Prince) on January 15, 2008. It remained on line a few days before somebody closed it. In his defence, Fouad brings up the fact that there are many profiles of celebrities on Facebook and that there was no malicious intent on his part, that he admired the prince and that the profile was set up for fun. [cite web
url=http://www.cbc.ca/cp/technology/080215/z021517A.html
title=Moroccan man's trial for impersonating a prince on Facebook postponed
publisher = CBC News] [cite web
url = http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080215/technology/technology_id_theft_facebook
title = Moroccan man's trial for impersonating a prince on Facebook postponed
publisher = Yahoo] at the request of the defense [cite web
url = http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/general/court_postpones_tria4131/view
title = Court postpones trial of alleged Royal identity fraudster to February 22
publisher = Maghreb Arab Presse] .

According to Fouad's lawyer, Ali Ammar, he could be facing 5 years of prison "for having done what thousands of people throughout the world do everyday: Create a profile of a celebrity or a star on Facebook". [cite web
url = http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/02/19/morocco-facebooks-fake-prince-could-face-five-years-in-prison/
title = Morocco: Facebook’s fake prince could face five years in prison
publisher = Global Voices]

On February 19^th, a number of influential Moroccan blogs sites were 'on strike', protesting over the detention of Fouad. [cite web
url = http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/2008/02/19/fouad-mourtada/
title = Morocco: Bloggers Rally Behind Fouad Mourtada
publisher = Global Voices]

On February 23th, Fouad Mourtada was sentenced to three years in jail for the alleged creation of the fake Facebook profile and fined 10,000 Dirhams (USD 1,350). [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7258950.stm Jail for Facebook spoof Moroccan] , BBC NEWS, 23 février 2008.]

On the evening of March 18, 2008, Fouad was released by a royal pardon after spending 43 days in jail. [ [http://helpfouad.com/index.html] , Help Free Fouad Site.]

References

External links

* [http://helpfouad.com/1001.html Help Free Fouad]
* [http://al-kalam.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-free-fouad-mourtada.html Soutien à Fouad Mourtada]
* [http://arabist.net/archives/2008/02/15/free-fouad-mourtada/#comment-392305 Free Fouad Mourtada on arabist.net]
* [http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10427212196 Facebook Group - Help Fouad Mourtada]

Blogs in English

* [http://www.eatbees.com/blog/2008/02/17/cruelty-principle/ Eatbees - The Cruelty Principle]
* [http://www.lailalalami.com/blog/archives/005001.html#005001 Laila Lalami - Free Mourtada]
* [http://lallalydia.blogspot.com/2008/02/fouad-mourtada-facebook-fraud-or.html Lalla Lydia - Fouad Mourtada: Facebook fraud or generational misunderstanding?]
* [http://myrtus.typepad.com/myrtus/2008/02/blog-on-strike.html Myrtus - Blog On Strike]
* [http://www.moroccosavvy.com/taamarbuuta/2008/02/14/help-fouad-mourtada/ The Morocco Report - Help free Fouad]

Blogs in other languages

* [http://www.blog.ma/obiterdicta/index.php?action=article&id_article=16141 (French) Orbiter Dicta]
* [http://www.larbi.org/index.php?2008/02/20/539-que-justice-soit-faite (French) Larbi - Commune bouteille jetée à la mer]
* [http://lionnedatlas.over-blog.com/article-16777406.html (French) Lionne D'Atlas - Ah si j'étais juge!]
* [http://fhamator.blogspot.com/2008/02/blog-en-greve-pour-fouad-mourtada.html (French) Fhamates]
* [http://kingstoune.com/myblog/index.php?2008/02/19/176-greve-pour-soutenir-fouad (French) Kingstoune]
* [http://7didane.blogspot.com/2008/02/cela-fait-aujoudhui-14-jours-que-fouad.html (French) 7didane]
* [http://hamadiblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/ras-le-bol.html (French) Reda Blog - Liberté d'expression : Blog en grève !]
* [http://www.taha.fr/blog/index.php?2008/02/18/648-les-blogueurs-doivent-ils-protester-en-fermant-leur-gueule (French) Farid Taha - Affaire Mourtada: Doit-on fermer sa gueule pour se faire entendre ?]
* [http://simo.benso.free.fr/?p=64 (French) SimoBenso]
* [http://vuesdeloin.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/help-fouad/ (French) Vues de loin - A méditer]
* [http://ecomaroc.blogspot.com/2008/02/ecomaroc-est-en-grve.html (French) EcoMaroc - EcoMaroc est en grève]
* [http://ladyzee.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/blog-en-berne-en-soutien-a-fouad-mourtada/ (French) Lady Zee - Blog en berne en soutien à Fouad Mourtada]
* [http://jomfery.blogspot.com/2008/02/blog-en-grve.html (Arabic) Blog en grève]
* [http://sem-onblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/blog-en-grve.html (French) Blog en grève]
* [http://naim.over-blog.org/article-16798737.html (French) Blog en grève pour la liberté d'expression au Maroc]
* [http://moidanstousmesetats.blogspirit.com/archive/2008/02/19/mouvement-de-greve-de-la-blogoma-pour-la-liberte-d-expressio.html (French) Moi, dans tous mes états - Mouvement de grêve de la blogoma pour la liberté d'expression]
* [http://www.chergaoui.com/divers/affaire-fouad-mourtada-blog-en-greve.html (French) Chergaoui - Affaire Facebook : Blog en grève]
* [http://manquedinspiration.blogspot.com/2008/02/fouad-mourtada.html (French) Manque d'inspiration - Soutient Fouad Mourtada]
* [http://maroquinerie.blogspot.com/2008/02/blog-en-grve.html (French) Maroquinerie - Blog en grève]
* [http://www.casawaves.com/2008/02/19/19-fevrier-solidaire-avec-fouad-mourtada/ (French) CasaWaves: Vivre et travailler au Maroc - Blog en grève]