Jail for Facebook spoof Moroccan

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7258950.stm

Jail for Facebook spoof Moroccan

Fouad Mourtada with a child (Photo: www.helpfouad.com)

Mr Mourtada said his fake Facebook profile was just a bit of fun

A Moroccan computer engineer has been sentenced to three years in jail
for setting up a Facebook profile in the name of a member of the royal
family.

Fouad Mourtada was arrested on 5 February on suspicion of stealing the
identity of Prince Moulay Rachid, younger brother of King Mohammed VI.

The Casablanca court also ordered Mr Mourtada, 26, to pay a $1,300
fine.

The prosecution had urged the court to impose a sentence which set an
example for others.

Mr Mourtada was convicted of "villainous practices linked to the
alleged theft of the [prince's] identity".

In his defence, he said he admired the prince, and that the Facebook
entry was just intended to be a bit of fun.

'Beaten unconscious'

A website supporting him published a letter addressed to the prince
apologising for the incident.

The letter, reportedly penned by Mr Mourtada's family, requested
clemency.

"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," the letter on the Help
Fouad website reads.

Earlier this week some Moroccan bloggers went "on strike", suspending
their regular blog entries for 24 hours in protest at Mr Mourtada's
detention.

According to the website, he told family members who visited him in
jail that he had been blindfolded and beaten unconscious at the time
of his arrest.