Omar Radi

Omar Radi (Arabic: عمر الراضي‎) is a Moroccan investigative journalist and human rights activist. He worked in Atlantic Radio, Media 24, TelQuel and LeDesk focusing on investigations about human rights, corruption and social movements. He was detained in Casablanca on 26 December 2019 for insulting a judge in a tweet six months prior.

Radi has worked on anti-competition practices by Mounir Majidi; corruption among politicians and members of parliament; budgetary problems in the urgent education program; a 2018 documentary about the Hirak Rif Movement; and coverage of social movements in Sidi Ifni, Imidir and Rif.

On 26 December 2019, Omar Radi was summoned to the local police station in Casablanca where he was arrested. The official reason given for his arrest was that—in April of 2019, more than 6 months before his arrest—Radi tweeted critically of a Casablanca magistrate for delivering 20-years jail sentence of 42 activists, including Nasser Zefzafi, from the Hirak Rif Movement. In an interview with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, Radi stated that he believed he was arrested because he was at a journalism awards ceremony in Algeria 3 days prior to his incarceration, speaking to the public about the Moroccan political economy and what he described as "economic predation" in Morocco and a "state capture model of economy."

The National union for journalists asked for his release. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) condemned the arrest. Human Rights Watch asked the authorities for his release and praised his quality journalism. On 29 September 2019, protests took place in front of the parliament.

On 31 December 2019, he was released on bail following a national and international campaign in his support, two days before his judgement, due on 2 January 2020. The judgement was then postponed to 5 March 2020.