Fouad Mourtada insists it was all a joke and no harm was intended, but the heavy arm of Moroccan ‘justice’ failed to see the funny side. It is commonplace on the social networking site Facebook for people to create fake profiles of celebrities and other famous people. Although frowned upon by Facebook it does happen and Mourtada thought he would do something similar but with a Moroccan twist. He created a profile of Prince Moulay Rachid, brother of the Moroccan king Mohammed IV.

He soon learned that in Morocco a perceived insult to the Monarchy is not treated lightly irrespective of the motive behind it. Moroccan security services managed to track him down and he was arrested on the 5th of February and charged ten days later with “villainous practices linked to the alleged theft of the [prince's] identity". He was eventually found guilty by a Casablanca court which imposed a three year sentence and a 10,000 Moroccan Dirham (US $1,300) fine.

In his defence Mourtada claimed the Facebook entry was a harmless bit of fun, a statement credited to him on a website campaigning for his release says "I actually created this account on January 15, 2008. It remained on line a few days before somebody closed it. There are so many profiles of celebrities on Facebook. I never thought that by creating a profile of his highness prince Moulay Rachid I am harming him in any way. I, as a matter of fact, did not send any message from that account to anyone. It was just a joke, a gag. I regret my gesture and beg my forgiveness from my whole family for the harm that I have caused them. I am not an evil doer; my ambition in the life was simply to have a stable job and a normal life ".

According to the webside Mourada had been regularly beaten by the security forces and on one occasion was found unconscious after a severe beating. Protest groups on Facebook and elsewhere have been formed to campaign for his release.