Algeria Gate: After footage captured by young Moroccan Yassine El Merabet exposed what the article describes as the brutality of Morocco’s Makhzen regime, images of a Moroccan security officer repeatedly striking a Moroccan migrant with a huge rock as he attempted to flee what the article calls the “hell of Morocco” shocked the world.
Rather than punishing the Moroccan police officer whose actions sparked widespread outrage on social media, the Tangier Court of First Instance sentenced 28-year-old Yassine El Merabet to one year in prison over what authorities described as “digital content published on social media platforms concerning social conditions and irregular migration to Ceuta.”

The public prosecutor’s office prosecuted El Merabet while he was in custody on charges including “incitement to commit misdemeanors and felonies through electronic means” and “insulting public officials and an organized body while carrying out their duties.”
On August 20, El Merabet was arrested at his workplace in Tangier and questioned by the specialized cybercrime unit over what were described as posts published on his Facebook and Instagram accounts.






