On Monday, the Court of First Instance in Salé issued a one-month suspended prison sentence against journalist Hanan Bakour, following a complaint against her, filed by the National Rally of Independents party, due to her blog post about the election of a president for the Guelmim-Oued Noun region council, in conjunction with the presence of the late Abdel Wahab Belfkih, He is in a critical condition after shooting himself.

The ruling also included a fine of 500 dirhams for the aforementioned journalist, in addition to a symbolic dirham for the benefit of the National Rally of Liberals party.

In its complaint, the National Rally of Liberals requested “conducting research into crimes of false informing, reporting a fictional crime, and distributing a composition composed of a person without his consent.”

The Prime Minister’s party also requested that she be followed up in case of arrest, and that she be referred to court in accordance with the law.

Bakour’s follow-up follows a blog post she wrote on the day of Abdel Wahab Belfkih’s death, wondering that he was “between life and death,” while at the same time announcing the election of the president of the Guelmim-Oued Noun region council, Mbarka Bouaida, “without even postponing knowing the fate of the town’s son and colleague.” According to what I wrote, the post was accompanied by a photo of Bouaida and Belfkih.

Bakour commented on her follow-up, saying in a blog post, “There are those who want to instill fear in people about their imagination and their clothes.”

Bakour is being prosecuted, according to Article 447.2 of the Criminal Code, on charges of “broadcasting and distributing false facts using information systems, with the intention of harming people’s private lives or defaming them.”