Omar Radi’s father denies his son was subjected to torture in jail

RABAT - The father of jailed Moroccan journalist Omar Radi categorically denied that he told an English news website that his son was subjected to torture in jail.

The Maghrebi.org website reported on Tuesday that, following an interview with Driss Radi and his son Mehdi who was present as a translator, the jailed journalist “appears to be being tortured in jail and may not survive his final years behind bars,” a claim the father categorically denied in a statement published on his Facebook page.

“When the article was published, I was surprised to hear things I had not said: words that embarrassed us greatly,” wrote Driss Radi.

“Some of the paragraphs that this person (journalist) inserted have nothing to do with the issue whose elements we agreed upon before recording the interview,” he said, insisting that their topic was about Omar, his journalistic work, and his situation in prison.

“I conveyed with all honesty that Omar is characterized by great resilience and that his health is good, which is clearly stated in his article. So how was it mentioned in the article that we fear for Omar from death in the remaining years (in prison)?” he asked.

In July 2021, a Casablanca court convicted Omar Radi on charges of espionage and sexual assault and sentenced him to six years in prison.

Radi, an investigative journalist jailed since his arrest in July 2020, denied any wrongdoing.

Radi was the subject of an Amnesty International report in June 2020 that said Moroccan authorities had unlawfully spied on the journalist through his phone by using sophisticated surveillance software.

However, Amnesty International failed to provide evidence of the phone hacking to the Moroccan government after Rabat repeatedly challenged the London-based human rights organization.

Omar’s father was quoted in the article as saying that his son was “good, mentally and physically.”

But the journalist added Radis’ “inexistent” declarations that Omar was subjected to “physical abuse” in prison.

Omar’s father categorically rejected the journalist’s claim that he was complaining about violations in prison.

“We disavow this statement and consider it something we are not accustomed to saying, while Omar expresses to us that his situation in prison is no longer embarrassing and he does not complain to us about any violations,” said Driss.