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Rabat – In a statement from the Ain El Borja prison in Casablanca, detained Moroccan journalist Taoufik Bouahcrine, has denounced the sexual assault charges he is currently facing.
In the statement, which was printed on his news website Alyaoum24, Bouachrine calls his arrest the result of “a conspiracy that I will reveal before the justice [system].”
Bouachrine, who was quoted by one of his lawyers added that, he is “certain” that “King Mohammed VI will not allow, in any way, [anyone] to tarnish the reputation of a citizen and a journalist, and to harm his rights and threaten his life and the life of his family by defaming him in the media.”
The journalist, who is also the director of Moroccan newspaper Akhbar Al Yaoum, added that the Moroccan judicial police “ did not operate in accordance with the law and legality throughout their inspection.”
Bouachrine added that the recordings and video evidence of the sexual misconduct charges were placed in his office in order to direct heavy charges to destroy him and to his pen.”
“I will reveal all the details of this plots and its motives before the court,” concluded Bouahcrine.
Bouachrine was arrested on February 24, at the headquarters of Akhbar Al Yaoum.
He is facing several charges, including human trafficking, the exploitation of people in need, and the abuse of power for sexual purposes. Bouachrine is also suspected of other crimes, including violent rape and attempted rape. The communiqué added that there nearly 50 tapes of the sexual assault incidents recorded on a hard disk and a digital video recorder.
The public prosecutor of Casablanca’s Court of Appeal has reportedly received eight new complaints from eight alleged victims, reporting their own claims of sexually assault against the detained journalist.
Bouachrine will be presented before the court on March 8.
