Moroccan jailed for royal Facebook 'joke'

[g]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5...xx7lvTNo4s6VVA

Moroccan jailed for royal Facebook 'joke'

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AFP) — A court in Morocco has jailed a computer engineer for three years for joining the social networking site Facebook by setting up a false profile of King Mohammed VI's brother.

The court in Casablanca sentenced Fouad Mourtada to three years in prison on Friday and fined him 10,000 dinar (900 euros, 1,300 dollars) for "the use of false information and usurping the identity of the prince."

The defence argued to no avail that Mourtada, 27, had just been having fun and that similar cases in the United States, Canada, and Europe never went to trial.

"On Facebook you find sites of Sarkozy, Bush and Blair as well as sports stars and film stars without certifying that they are real," said his lawyer Ali Ammar.

Asked why he had set up a Facebook profile under the name of Prince Moulay Rachid, the king's younger brother, Mourtada replied: "I admire him, I like him a lot and I have never caused him any wrong, it was just a joke. I am innocent."

[khurtsiya]

Unbelievable...

[Muhammad Mustafa]

Originally Posted by Ajiotaj

Unbelievable...

in Arab countries, China, believable, no wonder at all for me!

[touchring]

Originally Posted by Muhammad Mustafa

in Arab countries, China, believable, no wonder at all for me!

Making fun of royalty is punishable by jail sentence in many countries.

[mulligan]

Nothing at all surprises me about this

[g]

Originally Posted by touchring

Making fun of royalty is punishable by jail sentence in many countries.

what are these many countries

I barely hear just about royalty in jordon, morocco and london but mostly in arab countries.

another thing he wasn't making fun of him.... he just made an account under his name.....

[touchring]

Originally Posted by g

what are these many countries

I barely hear just about royalty in jordon, morocco and london but mostly in arab countries.

another thing he wasn't making fun of him.... he just made an account under his name.....

Oh yea, there's another law that may apply. "Impersonation", which can be criminal or slanderous.

[mulligan]

Read up on Thailand .. you talk abt the King in any way thats 'wrong' .. your ass is going down

[touchring]

Originally Posted by mulligan

Read up on Thailand .. you talk abt the King in any way thats 'wrong' .. your ass is going down

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lese_majeste

But apparently, the penalty varies from country to country.

In October 2007 a 47-year-old man was fined 400 € for, amongst other things, lèse majesté in The Netherlands when he called Queen Beatrix a "whore" and described several sexual acts he would like to perform on her to a police officer.[10]

[mulligan]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6440645.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6505237.stm

They do not fuck about with this stuff .. and neither should anyone unless you enjoy 'Thai jail food' and know what 'love you long time' means

[bramiozo]

Impersonation in itself is obviously not a criminal fact as long as impersonation does not exceed imitation and as long as imitation does not lead to plagiarism. Maybe you can inform the unwitting crowd about the moral standards being upheld here ? Insulting the king, oh dear ...
in my country you will get a fine for public and intended insults, not because royalty stands above criticism but because they cannot defend themselves in public (by constitutional law) but no republican can be fined or otherwise hindered by the government for propagating a country without king or queen.

A young man is spending three years of his live in jail because of a 'dissident' internet profile, I am not surprised by I am still appalled.

[mulligan]

Appalling as it may be .. you have to observe the 'so called rules' of the country you live in or visit .. otherwise .. if caught you will be jailed, caned, or 'hung by the neck until dead' .. possibly have a 'hand cut off' .. beheaded .. 'stoned to death' etc etc ..

This stuff is happening every day

[touchring]

Originally Posted by mulligan

Appalling as it may be .. you have to observe the 'so called rules' of the country you live in or visit .. otherwise .. if caught you will be jailed, caned, or 'hung by the neck until dead' .. possibly have a 'hand cut off' .. beheaded .. 'stoned to death' etc etc ..

This stuff is happening every day

Here's a new one for Singapore.

If you see someone with illegal possession of a firearm and you don't report to the police, it's 6 year's jail and 6 strokes of the cane.

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/239580.asp

[mulligan]

Originally Posted by touchring

Here's a new one for Singapore.

If you see someone with illegal possession of a firearm and you don't report to the police, it's 6 year's jail and 6 strokes of the cane.

http://www.todayonline.com/articles/239580.asp

Only six strokes? Sheesh what is this country coming to ..

[touchring]

The laws had always been there, no changes. It seems that he is given the minimum:

* Illegal entry into Singapore: At least three strokes
* Unlawful overstay in Singapore for over ninety days: At least three strokes
* Unlawful possession or conveyance of any arms or ammunition: At least six strokes
* Offences relating to scheduled weapons: At least six strokes
* Trafficking in arms: At least six strokes
* Exhibiting imitation arms when committing scheduled offence: At least three strokes
* Outrage of modesty
* Sodomy or gross indecency between males
* Rape: At least twelve strokes for male offenders
* Carrying, etc., offensive weapons, explosive, corrosive or inflammable substances in a proclaimed area
* Escaping Military Draft: up to twenty four strokes
* Vandalism: three to eight strokes
* Piracy (robbery committed at sea): At least twelve strokes
* Hijacking
* Rioting
* Attempt to murder
* Voluntarily causing grievous hurt
* Assault or use of criminal force to a person with intent to outrage modesty
* Assault or criminal force in committing or attempting to commit theft of property carried by a person
* Theft after preparation made for causing death or hurt in order to commit theft: At least three strokes
* Extortion
* Robbery: At least six strokes. If committed after 7 p.m. and before 7 a.m: At least twelve strokes
* Robbery when armed or with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt: At least twelve strokes
* Attempt to commit robbery: At least six strokes
* Voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery: At least twelve strokes
* Gang-robbery: At least twelve strokes
* Belonging to gang-robbers: At least six strokes
* Dealing with drugs : At least fifteen strokes
* Dealing with explosives
* Dealing with dangerous fireworks for subsequent offence: Up to six strokes
* Using a corrosive or explosive substance or offensive weapon: At least six strokes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caning_in_Singapore

[bramiozo]

Originally Posted by mulligan

Only six strokes? Sheesh what is this country coming to ..

Will you face the torture with laughter or will you cry for the injustice ? No response is ever normal or acceptable just because the response was foreseeable. I reckon you understand that but maybe you cannot speak out loud because the country you live in has some 'restrictions' ?

The mere thought that an artificial border between countries means the difference between law and lawlessness or civilisation and barbarism is ridiculous.
[correction: the mere thought is correct, the acceptance of it is ridiculous]

[mulligan]

Bram .. the indicates sarcasm.

I neither agree with or accept it .. you can cane my ass 'over my dead body'

[touchring]

Originally Posted by bramiozo

The mere thought that an artificial border between countries means the difference between law and lawlessness or civilisation and barbarism is ridiculous.
[correction: the mere thought is correct, the acceptance of it is ridiculous]

Barbarism occurs to some extent in all countries.

Examples of barbarism common in most places at some point:

1. When a kid gets spanked in class for playing traunt.
2. Military law - this is always barbaric.