Moroccan cartoonist Yasser Mounbir sentenced to four years in prison for caricatures of the king — his lawyers say they will appeal
A court in Casablanca has sentenced Yasser Mounbir, a 22-year-old graffiti artist and cartoonist, to four years in prison and a fine of 40,000 dirhams for insulting King Mohammed VI and public officials through caricatures he posted on Instagram, his defence lawyer announced on Sunday. The drawings at the centre of the case depicted the king in disguise and as an animal, RFI reported. Mounbir was arrested on 15 June and has been held since at Oukacha prison in Casablanca; the trial ran to eighteen hearings, according to Maroc Hebdo. Insulting the king is a crime under Article 179 of Morocco's penal code, which provides six months to two years in prison, doubled when the offence is committed electronically. His lawyers, Farouk Mehdaoui and Sara Soujar, called the sentence disproportionate and a serious blow to creative freedom and said they will appeal; the Moroccan Association for Human Rights has demanded his release. No appeal date has been set, and the court's own record had not been read when this page published — it is in Checking state.
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Key points
- The sentence: four years in prison and a 40,000-dirham fine, handed down in Casablanca on Friday 30 October for insulting the king and public officials over Instagram caricatures — announced by his lawyer on Sunday; an appeal is planned (News Central; RFI via African Quarters).
- Mounbir, 22, is a graffiti artist with about 12,000 Instagram followers; he has been held at Oukacha prison since his arrest on 15 June, and the drawings showed the king in disguise and as an animal (RFI).
- The law: Article 179 gives six months to two years for insulting the king, doubled for electronic publication — the provision behind the four-year term.
- His lawyers call the sentence disproportionate; the Moroccan Association for Human Rights demands his release. The court's own record has not been read — the page is in Checking state.
What happened
Mounbir's case is the latest in a line of Moroccan prosecutions for satire aimed at the monarchy: the newspaper cartoonist Khalid Gueddar and editor Taoufik Bouachrine were convicted over a royal cartoon in 2009, the satirical editor Ali Lmrabet was jailed in the 2000s, and in 2019 the YouTuber Mohamed Sekkaki ('Moul Kaskita') received the same four-year sentence for insulting the king in a video (AFP's reporting of those cases). Morocco's 2016 Press and Publications Code removed prison terms for press offences, but the penal code kept them for speech offences — which is why an Instagram cartoonist is prosecuted under the penal code, not the press code.
Morocco is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whose Article 19 protects expression including artistic forms — the standard Mounbir's defenders invoke against Article 179.
Both sides, in their own words
Both sides heard. Neither believed for free. Publishing a side's version is not endorsing it — the claim checks below are where verdicts live.
Side A · The defence and rights groups' case
- Mounbir's lawyers, Farouk Mehdaoui and Sara Soujar, described the sentence as disproportionate and a serious blow to creative freedom, and the defence will appeal (RFI, via African Quarters).
- 'Criticising power is not a crime,' said Hakim Sikouk, head of the Rabat branch of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (via Maroc Hebdo); the association has called for Mounbir's release, and several hundred people signed a petition demanding his freedom during the summer.
- Rights advocates in Morocco urge the authorities to repeal the laws they say restrict freedom of expression and to pardon people prosecuted over online posts (News Central).
Side B · The prosecution and the law's case
- The convictions rest on Article 179 of the penal code, which criminalises defamation, insult or offences against the person of the king — six months to two years in prison, doubled when the offence is committed electronically, as these Instagram posts were (News Central; African Quarters).
- The court also convicted Mounbir of insulting public officials, a separate offence, alongside the king count (News Central).
- The king's person is held inviolable under Morocco's constitution — the basis on which caricatures of him are prosecuted at all (AFP's background in earlier cases).
Independently verified
A Casablanca court on Friday 30 October sentenced Yasser Mounbir, 22, to four years in prison and a fine of 40,000 dirhams after convicting him of insulting the king and public officials over caricatures of King Mohammed VI posted on Instagram; his defence lawyer Farouk Mehdaoui announced the sentence on Sunday, and the defence plans to appeal. Mounbir, a graffiti artist and muralist with about 12,000 followers on Instagram, was arrested on 15 June and has remained in custody at Oukacha prison in Casablanca; the drawings at the centre of the case depicted King Mohammed VI in disguise and as an animal. Article 179 of Morocco's penal code provides prison terms of six months to two years for defamation, insult or offences against the person of the king, with the penalty doubled when the offence is committed electronically. His lawyers called the sentence disproportionate and a serious blow to creative freedom; the Moroccan Association for Human Rights has demanded his release — 'Criticising power is not a crime,' its Rabat branch head Hakim Sikouk said — and rights advocates call for the speech laws to be repealed and those prosecuted over online posts pardoned.Not yet verified
The trial ran to eighteen hearings; a national lawyers' strike left Mounbir without legal representation for part of the proceedings; his requests for provisional release were repeatedly rejected, the last on 21 October; and early accounts of his arrest referred to an altercation with a police officer, a version his relatives dispute.Claim by claim
Why this label: The sentence, fine, charges and appeal plan are carried in agreement by two chains read in this pass: the wire report of the lawyer's Sunday announcement (News Central, 1 Nov) and RFI's reporting carried by African Quarters, which dates the sentencing to Friday 30 October in Casablanca. The fine is carried in dirhams only: reports convert it differently (about €3,600 / about $4,000). The court's own written record had not been read — one reason the story is in Checking state.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: Arrest date, custody, the Instagram following and the drawings' content are from RFI's reporting (via African Quarters, read in this pass); the June arrest and the insult convictions are also in the wire report (News Central).
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The provision's terms are stated identically by News Central and African Quarters, both read in this pass. How the four-year total divides between the king count and the public-officials count is not stated in the reports read, and this page does not assume it (African Quarters makes the same caution).
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Show all claims (2 more)
Why this label: All of this detail comes from one chain — Maroc Hebdo's reporting, carried by RFI/African Quarters and read in this pass. It is plausible, specific and uncontradicted, but no second source for the hearings count, the strike gap or the disputed arrest account was read, so it is labelled Not yet verified and kept out of the headline and summary.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: Verified as the stated positions of the defence and the rights groups: the lawyers' characterisation is RFI's (via African Quarters), the Sikouk quote is via Maroc Hebdo, and the association's release demand and the repeal/pardon calls are in the wire report (News Central). Positions, not findings.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- The verdict and sentence (four years, 40,000 dirhams, Friday 30 October, Casablanca), the charges (insulting the king; insulting public officials), the appeal plan, the arrest date (15 June) and the custody at Oukacha — from the defence lawyer's announcement and RFI's reporting, in agreement.
- The legal basis: Article 179's six-months-to-two-years range, doubled for electronic offences.
- The defence's and rights groups' stated positions, including the release demand.
What we don't know yet
- The court's own written judgment, read directly — the sentence is known from the defence lawyer's announcement and press reporting, and how the four years divide between the two convictions is not stated.
- The appeal's date — the Casablanca appeal court had not set one in the reports read — and whether Mounbir will be released pending it.
- Any response from the prosecution or the palace to the criticism of the sentence — none was in the reports read.
Show more (1)
- The trial-circumstance details from Maroc Hebdo (eighteen hearings, the lawyers'-strike gap, the disputed arrest account) from a second source.
Why it matters
A 22-year-old whose canvas was Instagram is in prison for four years for drawings — in a country that hosts the world's press and will co-host the 2030 World Cup, and whose own press code abolished prison for press offences a decade ago. The case tests where Morocco's line on satire actually runs: the constitution makes the king inviolable, the covenant Morocco signed protects artistic expression, and the appeal will show which one the courts put first.
Background
Show the background timeline (4)
Morocco adopts a Press and Publications Code with no prison terms for speech offences — but the penal code keeps prison for insulting the king and officials.
YouTuber Mohamed Sekkaki ('Moul Kaskita') is sentenced to four years for insulting the king in a video (AFP).
Yasser Mounbir is arrested in Casablanca and held at Oukacha prison.
A Casablanca court sentences Mounbir to four years in prison and a 40,000-dirham fine; his lawyers announce an appeal on 1 November.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Story published in Checking state (surfaced as a crawl-digest candidate, AllAfrica 02:56Z). Basis: the defence lawyer's announcement via the wire report (News Central) and RFI's reporting via African Quarters, both read in this pass and in agreement on the verdict; the court's own record has not been read and the appeal is pending. No official video verified.