Two French journalists, Catherine Grassier and Eric Laurent, have been sentenced to one-year suspended imprisonment and fined 10,000 euros by a Paris court for blackmailing King Mohammed VI of Morocco.
The pair were tried after accepting sums of money during a meeting with the Moroccan palace lawyer, who was acting under police supervision.
Laurent, a former correspondent for “Radio France” and “Le Figaro” magazine, defended his actions but admitted to a “moral error”. Grassier claimed the Moroccan state had seduced her with a financial offer.
This case erupted in the summer of 2015, and at that time sparked widespread media controversy, after French journalist Eric Laurent contacted the Royal Court to announce that he was preparing to publish a book about Morocco with Catherine Grassie, but he expressed his willingness to give it up in exchange for handing over three million euros.
Laurent was arrested in flagrante delicto with Catherine Gracie, after they received sums of money and signed a contract during a meeting with the Moroccan palace lawyer under the supervision of the police and the Paris Public Prosecution Office, which opened an investigation into the matter.
Lawyer of King Mohammed VI, Eric Dupont Moretti, who is currently the French Minister of Justice, had confirmed that the French journalists Eric Laurent and Catherine Grassie should be tried for their extremely dangerous actions that could have major geo-political repercussions.
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