Omar Radi

Omar Radi is a Moroccan investigative journalist and human rights activist known for exposing corruption, land dispossession, and abuses of power – particularly affecting marginalised Amazigh communities facing exploitation by mining, tourism, and real estate interests.

His reporting for outlets including Le Journal Hebdo, Lakome, TelQuel and the Mamfakinch collective has uncovered embezzlement, influence peddling and state-enabled corporate abuse. In 2013, he received the first investigative journalism prize from International Media Support and the Moroccan Association for Investigative Journalism for exposing corruption in sand quarry management.

Omar's work has come at significant personal cost. Since 2013, he has faced repeated judicial persecution and surveillance. In 2021 he was sentenced to six years in prison following charges widely condemned as politically motivated by international human rights organisations. He was released in July 2024 under a royal pardon.

Through his fellowship, Omar is developing a new model for independent, transnational journalism covering Morocco and the Maghreb from abroad. The project aims to create a sustainable non-profit media outlet rooted in editorial independence and digital innovation, with plans to secure funding, develop content prototypes, and establish the administrative and strategic framework for launch.