Omar Radi is a Moroccan investigative journalist and human rights activist. He has worked at Lakome, Atlantic Radio, Media 24, TelQuel and Le Desk focusing on investigations about human rights, corruption and social movements. He was detained in Casablanca on 26 December 2019 for criticizing a judge in a tweet posted six months earlier.. His arrest triggered a massive movement of solidarity across the nation. He was handed a suspended four-month prison sentence, a verdict widely criticized by NGOs and human rights groups.
Career
Radi has worked on anti-competition practices by Mounir Majidi; corruption among politicians and members of parliament; budgetary problems in the urgent education program; a 2018 documentary about the Hirak Rif Movement; and coverage of social movements in Sidi Ifni, Imidir and Rif.
2019 Arrest
On 26 December 2019, Omar Radi was summoned to the localpolice station in Casablanca where he was arrested. The official reason given for his arrest was that—in April of 2019, more than 6 months before his arrest—Radi tweeted critically of a Casablanca magistrate for delivering 20-years jail sentence of 42 activists, including Nasser Zefzafi, from the Hirak Rif Movement. In an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, Radi stated that he believed he was arrested because he was at a journalism awards ceremony in Algeria 3 days prior to his incarceration, speaking to the public about the Moroccan political economy and what he described as "economic predation" in Morocco and a "state capture model of economy." The National union for journalists asked for his release. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights condemned the arrest. Human Rights Watch asked the authorities for his release and praised his quality journalism. On 29 September 2019, protests took place in front of the parliament. Protesters took the streets calling for his release in the Moroccan cities of Casablanca, Rabat, and Agadir but also abroad in Paris and Brussels. On 31 December 2019, following national and international pressure, Moroccan authorities were forced to release him on bail following a national and international campaign in his support, two days before his judgement, due on 2 January 2020. The judgement was then postponed to 5 March 2020.
Phone hacking
On June 21, Amnesty International released a report stating it found evidence that Omar Radi's personal cellphone had been infected with the Pegasus spyware of the Israeli technology firm NSO Group. The program can covertly access a phone’s camera, microphone, text messages, emails, applications, and location. As NSO Group publicly states that it sells its software exclusively to governments, Amnesty International concluded in its report that the surveillance was conducted by Moroccan authorities. Israel classifies this technology as a weapon and its approval is required for any exports. The phone hacking allegations were put into question by Moroccan authorities who have demanded proof from Amnesty International for these "serious and tendentious charges." Amnesty International, on its part, claims that it has provided the necessary proof, arguing in a public statement released on July 4 that "the technology used to spy on Omar Radi's phone required the control over telephone operators, which only the government could exert in order to hack the Internet connection." The Moroccan authorities maintain that what Amnesty provided does not constitute "convincing scientific evidence." On June 25 and then again on July 2, Radi was summoned to appear before the National Judicial Police Brigade for questioning. On July 2, Le 360 accused Omar Radi of being a "British intelligence agent." The Moroccan justice system suspects him of receiving "financial support from abroad" and having "links with a liaison officer from a foreign country" who has allegedly been "under diplomatic cover since 1979 in several regions of tension" throughout the world. Omar Radi categorically denies these accusations. At around 11:00 pm on July 5, Omar Radi and his colleague at Le DeskImad Stitou were taken into police custody after an altercation with a cameraman from Chouf TV, a sensationalist Moroccan media agency, who—according to Le Desk—had been following Radi since June 25 and had come to harass them. According to a spokesperson for the General Directorate for National Security, Radi was taken into custody for "public drunkenness and violence." Both journalists were detained over night and released on June 6, while an investigation into allegations of "public intoxication, violence, insult, and filming without permission," according to court documents, is ongoing.Advanced Special characters Help Cite Heading Format Insert Radi was summoned to appear before the BNPJ on the morning of July 8 for a third time in the course of two weeks, having received the notice 24 hours after he and his colleague Imad Stitou were released from overnight detention.
