Rabat – The Court of Appeals in Settat, 184 kilometers from Casablanca, upheld the conviction of Moroccan YouTuber Mohammed Sekkaki, known as “Moul Kaskita,” on Tuesday.
The YouTuber appealed the verdict of the First Instance Court in Settat in after a judge handed him a four-year prison sentence on December 26.
The court prosecuted Sekkaki for drug possession, attacking constitutional institutions, and as insulting Moroccans.
The charges were indicted after the YouTuber posted a 12-minute video, criticizing the Moroccan government and King Mohammed VI.
In the video, the YouTuber called Moroccans “stupid and uneducated.”
Moroccans “do not know how to vote because they are ignorant,” he said in the video.
Sekkaki also accused members of the government of corruption and spoke disparagingly about the King and his speeches, describing them as “useless.”
Police arrested him on November 30 of last year.
This is not the first time the YouTuber has served a jail sentence. In 2018, the YouTuber faced charges of scamming and “sextortion” and spent several months in prison. A few weeks after getting out of prison, in October 2018, police arrested the YouTuber again on charges including organizing an unauthorized demonstration, incitement to commit a misdemeanor, and insulting officials on duty.
In recent months, NGOs have been calling on Morocco to release prisoners convicted for criticizing the government and the king, denouncing a lack of freedom of speech.
Activists in the country also published a manifesto to ask the government to free people arrested for their opinion.
NGOs and activists have asked for the release of Moul Kaskita, along with the rapper Hamza, known as “Stalin,” also sentenced to four years, and the journalist Omar Radi, who faces prosecution for a tweet criticizing a judge.
