SEXUAL ASSAULT

Rabat: A Moroccan court has handed a 12 year prison sentence to a newspaper publisher charged with sexual assault, in a trial his lawyers said was politically motivated. The Casablanca court had found Taoufiq Bouachrine guilty of human trafficking, abuse of power for sexual purposes, rape and attempted rape.

The publisher, sentenced late Friday, has maintained his innocence throughout. He was arrested in February at the offices of his independent Arabic- language daily newspaper Akhbar AlYaum, known for editorials and cartoons critical of the authorities.