French journalists found guilty of blackmailing Moroccan king

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) - Two French journalists were found guilty Tuesday of blackmailing Moroccan King Mohammed VI, according to media reports.

The trial began in January in Paris for Eric Laurent, 76, and Catherine Graciet, 48, who were accused of demanding €2 million ($2.1 million) in 2015 in exchange for giving up publishing a book about the monarchy.

Laurent and Graciet received one year of a suspended jail sentence and a €10,000 fine, said the Le Figaro newspaper.

Their lawyers immediately appealed the verdict and the journalists, who denied threatening the king, acknowledged "an ethical error" by accepting a financial arrangement offer from Rabat, Le Figaro added.

The pair previously said it was Moroccan authorities who offered them money via lawyer Hicham Naciri.

The kingdom has denied the claims.

Laurent, a former reporter for French broadcaster Radio France and weekly Le Figaro Magazine, and his colleague Graciet, signed a contract to halt the publication of the book and received money, with police filming and observing the exchange from afar.

The journalists were later arrested carrying two envelopes each containing €40,000 in cash.

Naciri provided authorities with audio recordings of discussions officials had with the journalists.