The Moroccan YouTuber Mohamed Reda Taoujni has been sentenced to four years in prison by the Court of Appeal in Agadir. He stands accused of defaming the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, by suggesting potential ties to an international drug trafficking ring.
The incident stems from a resounding scandal. In late 2023, an influential drug trafficker, El Hadj Ahmed Ben Ibrahim, known as “the Malian” or “the Pablo Escobar of the Sahara,” currently serving a prison sentence, decides to confess to investigators about his connections with the Moroccan politico-financial milieu. With evidence in hand, he accuses dozens of individuals of benefiting from his trafficking in exchange for protection, services, or money.
Influential members of the Authenticity and Modernity party
Among those arrested are Saïd Naciri, president of Wydad Casablanca, and Abdenbi Bioui, president of the Oriental region. The problem: both are influential members of the Authenticity and Modernity party, founded and chaired by Abdellatif Ouahbi, the current Minister of Justice of Morocco. This minister, formerly a lawyer, had previously represented Mr. Naciri and Mr. Bioui as clients.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Mohamed Reda Taoujni questioned the connections between the three men, publicly hypothesizing that the minister, in his capacity as a lawyer, was aware of the affairs involving his clients.