The Court of Appeal in Marrakech ruled, Tuesday, to increase the sentence of Said Ait Mehdi, head of the Coordination of Victims of the Al Haouz Earthquake, to one year in prison. The court also convicted three other defendants, who had been acquitted by the Court of First Instance, sentencing them to four months in prison each. One month ago, the Marrakech Court of First Instance had sentenced Said Ait Mehdi to three months in prison, a fine of 500 dirhams, and 10,000 dirhams in compensation to the civil party. In December, the prosecutor at the Marrakech Court of First Instance decided to prosecute Said Ait Mehdi while in detention, and he was subsequently imprisoned. Ait Mehdi was charged with spreading false information to harm people's private lives, defaming them, insulting an organization, insulting public officials while they were doing their jobs or because of their jobs, assaulting a public official while they were on duty, and encouraging the commission of a crime or misdemeanor through electronic means that could be publicly seen. The other defendants were charged with insulting a public official. The arrest of the four suspects followed a complaint filed by an authority officer.
