Morocco: Four Years in Prison for 22-Year-Old Yasser Mounbir After Caricaturing the King on Instagram
Moroccan cartoonist Yasser Mounbir, aged 22, has been sentenced to four years in prison and fined 40,000 dirhams (around €3,600) by a court of first instance in Casablanca over caricatures of King Mohammed VI published on his Instagram account. The news was reported by AFP on November 2, 2026.
Two charges were brought against him: insulting the King and insulting public officials, according to AFP and the Moroccan news site Yabiladi. The young man, identified as an artist and graffiti writer by Moroccan outlet Enass, was arrested in June.
An Appeal Announced
His lawyer, Farouk Mehdaoui, spoke out on Sunday, November 1, 2026, announcing his intention to appeal, according to both media outlets, which did not report a formal filing yet. Enass had reported the sentence as early as October 31, 2026, attributing it to the Aïn Sebaâ court of first instance in Casablanca.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) has called for the cartoonist's release, AFP and Yabiladi reported.
What the Law Says
Article 179 of the Moroccan Penal Code punishes defamation, insults, or violations of the King's privacy with six months to two years in prison—a penalty doubled when the acts are committed via electronic means, both media outlets noted. The sources consulted did not detail the precise legal basis applied to each of the two charges.
Freedom of Expression Under Pressure
In Morocco, human rights organizations regularly denounce restrictions on freedom of expression. They are calling for the repeal of laws they deem repressive and for pardons for individuals convicted over online posts, according to AFP.
Defending the rights of Africans also means standing up for African citizens in the face of their own institutions. The case of this 22-year-old man, sentenced for drawings, highlights a question felt right across the continent: how far can a citizen criticize power without risking prison? If the appeal is formally lodged, a court of appeal will have to rule on the case.
This article was written in French with the help of artificial intelligence from the sources cited below, then translated from French automatically. Read the original.
