Her publication cost her dearly. On Monday August 15, a Moroccan blogger was sentenced to two years in prison without parole by the court in Oued. As reported by Le Figaro, Fatema Karim was charged with ” insulting the Muslim religion ” after commenting on Quranic verses and hadiths of the Prophet Mohammed in Arabic in July this year.
The 39-year-old blogger announced that she would appeal her conviction. At the same time, she publicly apologised to “anyone who felt offended by her comment on Facebook”. “This judgement is very harsh. It throws us back years,” said Bouazza Karim, Fatema Karim’s brother. In Morocco, any person who violates the Muslim religion can be sentenced to between six months and two years in prison. This penalty can be increased to five years imprisonment if the offence is committed in public, even online. Any attack “on the monarchical regime” is also punished.