Suleiman Rissouni: From Convicted in a Rape Case to the Face of Foreign Agendas
Suleiman Rissouni has once again returned to his favorite game of poisoning the well, exploiting the life of a former figure in the royal circle to construct a distorted narrative lacking credibility and good intent. His latest post regarding the situation of former Princess Lalla Salma is nothing more than a new attempt to mix the cards and leverage public curiosity to cast doubt on state symbols, in an indirect yet blatant manner.
Rissouni, who fled Morocco to Tunisia, is not a political refugee as he tries to market himself, but rather a fugitive from prosecution in a case of rape and the sexual exploitation of minors—serious charges that do not expire. He chose to hide behind the banner of “asylum,” merely to serve known foreign media agendas hostile to Morocco. His professional history is well-known, characterized both by his controversial personal behavior and his deviant sexual inclinations, which have drawn criticism even from those who formerly defended him.
It is evident that Rissouni adopts an approach similar to that of the journalist Ignacio Sembriero, known for his animosity toward Morocco, by relying on selective foreign sources and recycling old news that has been denied or surpassed in a bid to revive outdated scenarios. The divorce between King Mohammed VI and Lalla Salma occurred respectfully and was never an issue of repression or concealment as Rissouni suggests; in fact, Lalla Salma has made public appearances and lives her life freely both inside Morocco and abroad, as several reports affirm her ownership of a luxurious residence and frequent travels.
Rissouni did not write his post out of humanitarian or human rights concerns as he tries to imply; instead, he rides the familiar wave of targeting the monarchy through cheap sensationalism. He did not speak about oppressed women in other countries, nor about prisoners of conscience in nations lacking even the minimum of freedom of expression. We have never seen him write about women in Yemen, Iran, or Gaza. His goal has never been to defend women, but to undermine Morocco’s stability from within, through insinuation, skepticism, and hiding behind secondary issues.
Interestingly, Rissouni does not dare to direct this kind of rhetoric at any other Arab regime, despite claiming to defend human rights. Yet, time and again, he returns to stab his country in the back, deluded into believing that official silence is a sign of weakness, while in reality, the state has chosen to rise above the controversy with someone who has sold his pen to oppose his own country. He has followed the same path as Gerardo, adopting a convincing hostile discourse, and an unspoken allegiance to foreign agendas that know well how to choose their tools.
