Sokrate, a prominent blogger, was arrested by security forces while leaving an Internet café in Marrakech. In June, a local court sentenced him to two years in prison on charges of drug possession and trafficking, according to news reports.
Sokarte is known for his criticism of the monarchy and political Islam, which is widely believed to be the reason for his imprisonment, news reports said. Moroccan authorities have a record of filing trumped-up charges of drug possession to imprison critical journalists, CPJ research shows. Authorities briefly arrested Sokrate’s father and brother as a way of pressuring the blogger to sign a false confession, according to regional press freedom groups.
Sokrate was also a member of the February 20 youth group, which had organized pro-reform protests in Morocco in 2011.