Last week, Mohamed Erraji was jailed and fined 5,000
dirhams ($626). He was later released on bail pending the
appeals court ruling.
"The case is not acceptable and the case was abandoned and
thrown out of court," said Ahmed Belouch, presiding judge at
the appeals court in the southern city of Agadir.
Erraji wrote in online newspaper Hespress that Morocco had
been destroyed by the practice of handing out charity or gifts
such as taxi licenses to a lucky few, which encouraged people
to beg.
"This has made the Moroccans a people without dignity, who
live by donations and gifts," he wrote in reference to the
King's charity work.
Judge Belouch cited flaws in prosecuting the case of the
29-year-old blogger, including the failure to summon him to
attend trial 15 days before he actually appeared in court and
his unlawful detention ahead of the trial.
Family members and human rights groups said police arrested
Erraji on September 5 and his trial last 10 minutes. He had no
defense lawyer.
"The ruling today showed the situation of human rights has
changed in Morocco and there is improvement in court dealings
with cases related to rights of opinion and free press," said
Abdellatif Ouammou, who was Erraji lawyer. (Reporting by Lamine
Ghanmi; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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