Morocco jails activist for 'offending' king

A Moroccan court on Monday handed a four year jail sentence to an activist who "offended" King Mohammed VI on social media, his lawyer said.

"Rabie Al Ablaq was sentenced to four years in jail for offending the king online," defence attorney Abdelmajid Azaryah told AFP.

The trial opened on April 11 after he published online "video footage criticising social disparities and corruption", the lawyer said.

"I was shocked by the verdict because he had only expressed his opinion. I did not feel that he had undermined the (royal) institution," he added.

The activist and citizen journalist, 35, was also fined 20,000 dirhams (about $2,000), Azaryah said.

According to Human Rights Watch, Al Ablaq was convicted over two videos posted on Facebook and YouTube in September and November last year in which he "addressed the king... and compared his personal fortune to widespread poverty in Morocco".

The rights watchdog had urged authorities to drop the charges against Al Ablaq.