Caricatures of Mohammed VI: four years’ imprisonment for Moroccan graffiti artist and illustrator Yasser Mounbir

On 30 October 2026, the Casablanca Court of First Instance sentenced the graffiti artist and illustrator Yasser Mounbir to four years’ imprisonment without parole and a fine of 40,000 dirhams (3,633 euros).

Charged with “insulting the King” following the publication of caricatures of Mohammed VI on his Instagram account, Yasser Mounbir had been in pre-trial detention for 140 days and was sentenced to the maximum penalty.

Article 179 of the Moroccan Penal Code prohibits “defamation, insult or invasion of the King’s privacy”, making such offences punishable by six months to two years’ imprisonment. The sentence may be doubled in the event of electronic dissemination.

Yasser Mounbir’s support committee views this case as “the continuation of the criminalisation of peaceful artistic expression”.

His lawyer is set to appeal the conviction, whilst the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) is demanding his release.

Cartooning for Peace expresses its solidarity with the illustrator Yasser Mounbir and joins those calling for his immediate release against a backdrop of the criminalisation of voices critical of the monarchy.