Historian and journalist; President of Freedom Now; co-founder of the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism.
He was convicted at a hearing neither he nor his lawyers were allowed to attend, then spent weeks on hunger strike protesting the irregularities.HuMENA Editorial
Maâti Monjib leads associations defending press freedom and investigative journalism in Morocco. Convicted in absentia in 2021 of threatening state security, he spent months in pretrial detention and on hunger strike before conditional release.
Editorial update · 13 May 2026 — In January 2026 Monjib was granted a conditional release but remains barred from leaving Morocco. On 30 March 2026, border police prevented him from boarding a flight at Rabat-Salé airport despite an official university summons, after which he announced a hunger strike. His car, home, and bank accounts have been seized for more than four years. His lawyers plan UN complaints in Geneva and New York.
Maâti Monjib is a historian and journalist who has dedicated his career to press freedom and anti-corruption work in Morocco. He serves as President of Freedom Now, an association defending freedom of expression and journalism, and co-founded the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism (MAIJ), which investigates and exposes corruption.
His work centres on creating institutional support for investigative reporters and defending the rights of journalists operating under pressure. This sustained focus on transparency and accountability has made him a target of state security agencies.
In 2015, Moroccan authorities first brought charges of "threatening the internal security of the State" against Monjib and several other human rights defenders. The case lay dormant for years before resurfacing in 2020 with additional allegations.
On 30 December 2020, an investigative judge at Rabat First Instance Court ordered Monjib's preventive detention on a new charge of money laundering. An investigation session was scheduled for 20 January 2021.
On 27 January 2021, the Court of First Instance in Rabat convicted Monjib of threatening the internal security of the state and sentenced him to one year in prison. The hearing was conducted in absentia: neither Monjib nor his lawyers were permitted to attend. The verdict was delivered without the defendant present to contest the charges or cross-examine evidence.
Monjib was held in El Arjat 2 prison in Salé, near Rabat. On 4 March 2021, he began an open-ended hunger strike to protest his detention, the conviction, and the procedural irregularities that had marked the case. The strike continued for weeks.
He was conditionally released on 23 March 2021, though the legal proceedings against him remained active. Multiple appeal hearings followed, each rescheduled. An 8 April 2021 hearing before the Appeals Court in Casablanca was postponed to 10 June 2021.
On 30 September 2021, Monjib arrived at the Administrative Court of Appeal in Rabat for another hearing. Approximately two hundred security agents surrounded the courthouse, half of them helmeted and armed with sticks and shields. The deployment appeared designed to prevent any public gathering in his support; the agents dispersed after Monjib and his lawyer left.
The hearing was rescheduled again to 2 December 2021 due to the absence of other co-defendants. His case was to be heard alongside several other defenders facing the same charge of threatening state security.
Monjib's bank account and credit card were frozen without prior notification, leaving him without access to income. State-owned media outlets have conducted defamation campaigns against him, accusing him of inciting violence and embezzling civil society funds. These smear campaigns have accompanied the judicial harassment, amplifying the pressure on him and his family.
Monjib's case exemplifies the pattern of judicial harassment facing defenders of press freedom in Morocco. The resurfacing of old charges, the use of national-security statutes to criminalise journalism advocacy, the asset freezes, and the coordinated media defamation campaigns together illustrate the toolbox deployed against those who challenge official narratives.
This case file was compiled by HuMENA's Morocco research team from primary documentation, public filings, family-supplied legal documents, and confidential partner reporting. Editorial responsibility rests with the HuMENA Editorial Board. Where dates or facts are uncertain, the record errs on the side of the source material and notes uncertainty in the live archive at humena.org.
HuMENA welcomes corrections, additions, and take-down requests from the defender, their family, or accredited representatives. Material discrepancies are typically addressed within 72 hours.
Editorial · editorial@humena.org
Take-downs & corrections · takedowns@humena.org
Partner submissions (confidential) · partners@humena.org