A young Moroccan, Fouad Mourtada, has been sentenced to jail for three years.
His crime was to have put up a profile on Facebook in the name of Prince Moulay Rachid, a member of the Royal Family.
This led to his arrest for identity theft. He was convicted of doing "villainous practices" in connection with stealing the idenitity of the prince.
He said he had put up the profile in January just for fun, and had not used it to send any messages. It was closed after a few days.
Sympathisers started an bilingual on-line petition to seek his release, and some Moroccan bloggers even went on strike.
Mourtada, aged 26, is a computer engineer. He had apologised saying it was just a joke, and asked for forgiveness for any harm caused.
This is indeed a severe punishment for a silly prank.
His crime was to have put up a profile on Facebook in the name of Prince Moulay Rachid, a member of the Royal Family.
This led to his arrest for identity theft. He was convicted of doing "villainous practices" in connection with stealing the idenitity of the prince.
He said he had put up the profile in January just for fun, and had not used it to send any messages. It was closed after a few days.
Sympathisers started an bilingual on-line petition to seek his release, and some Moroccan bloggers even went on strike.
Mourtada, aged 26, is a computer engineer. He had apologised saying it was just a joke, and asked for forgiveness for any harm caused.
This is indeed a severe punishment for a silly prank.
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