French journalists go on trial for blackmailing the king of Morocco; could face five years in jail
Morocco's King Mohammed VI (left) and his son Crown Prince Moulay Hassan in Paris on November 11, 2018
Two French journalists were put on trial on Mondayin France for allegedly attempting to extort money from the king of Morocco in exchange for concealing supposedly damaging revelations about him.In order to stop the release of a book on the Moroccan royal family, Eric Laurent, 75, and Catherine Graciet, 48, allegedly demanded $2 millionin 2015.
Both authors, who could be sentenced to five years in prison and fined 75,000 euros if proven guilty, have denied any wrongdoing and claim that a lawyer for the Moroccan royal family was the one who initially gave them the money.
In court on Monday, Laurent acknowledged that accepting to "let myself be caught up in this affair" was an "ethical error" and a "disaster."
Co-author Graciet said that the Moroccan envoy "seduced me with his financial offer, I took the plunge and I regret it".
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In 2012, the authors had already released "The Predator King," a book about King Mohammed VI that was strongly criticised and later outlawed in Morocco.
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In August 2015, Laurent visited a lawyer for the royal at the bar of a Parisian hotel and informed him that the second volume was scheduled to include potentially unpleasant disclosures for the monarchy.
Morocco claims the journalist offered to put an end to the book's initial 2016 release date in return for three million euros. After talks, he allegedly eventually lowered that sum to $2 million.
(With inputs from agencies)
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