US-Moroccan YouTuber jailed over ‘insults’ to state

RABAT: A court in Casablanca has sentenced a Moroccan-American YouTuber to three months in jail for "insulting" the state, his family said.

Known under the handle "3robi F’Merikane" ("A country person in America"), Chakib Omerani has for several years been posting videos critical of King Mohammed VI and Moroccan authorities.

"My brother was sentenced on March 25," Mohamed Omerani wrote on Thursday on his Facebook page, adding that he was also fined 42,000 dirhams ($4,600). The YouTuber was arrested in early February on landing in Rabat from the United States where he lives, after authorities had issued a warning to Moroccans living at home or abroad.

Police and intelligence services in December accused individuals living abroad of having "insulted serving public officials and constitutional bodies".