Moroccan Man Jailed over Spoofing Prince on Facebook
A Moroccan computer engineer has received a three years of sentence in jail for creating a Facebook profile in the name of a member belonging to the royal family.
The engineer named Fouad Mourtada, 26, had police officials on his doorstep on 5th February on suspicion of taking on the identity of King Mohammed VI’s younger brother Prince Moulay Rachid.
Apart from the three years jail sentence, Mourtada has also been ordered to pay a fine of $1,300, by the Casablanca court.
The main aim behind the action is to let others know the consequence of such behavior.
Mourtada has been accused of “villainous practices linked to the alleged theft of the [prince’s] identity”.
However, whilst speaking in defense, Mourtada stated that he admired the prince, and the Facebook entry was just created on a lighter side.
The letter, apparently written by Mourtada’s family, asks for forgiveness.
The letter which was posted on the Help Fouad website reads: “Fouad Mourtada, like thousands of people who create fake profiles of well-known personalities or celebrities on Facebook, has in no way acted in a willingness to cause nuisance to Your Highness, for whom he has always shown the greatest of respect.”
However, the website throws light on the possibility of Mourtada being punished beyond the three years sentence and the fine. It seems he told his family members who visited him in jail that he had been blindfolded and beaten unconscious at the time of his arrest.
Sometime earlier this week, a few Moroccan bloggers went “on strike”, canceling their regular blog entries for 24 hours in protest at Mourtada’s imprisonment.
Not much is known about how the officials traced Mourtada’s identity.
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