A Moroccan man has been sentenced to three years in prison for "usurping the identity" of a prince, but he only created a fake profile on Facebook as a joke, his sister told CTV.ca Saturday.
Fouad Mourtada, 26, created the profile of His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid, the younger brother of Morocco's King Mohammed.
"It's so unfair to destroy a young man's life because of an act that's so innocent that other people around the world do it without significant consequences," said Mourtada's sister, Toronto resident Amina Mourtada.
Mourtada has also been convicted of "falsification of computer documents" and fined 10,000 Moroccan dirhams -- roughly $1,300. He was sentenced on Friday.
Amina Mourtada said her brother meant no disrespect toward the prince, and only wanted to create a profile of a celebrity he admired.
"He did not even create the profile to communicate with anyone and the police have confirmed that," she said. "He's a big fan of Prince Moulay Rachid and he didn't mean to cause any harm."
She said it may be the first ever case where someone was sentenced to prison for creating a false profile on Facebook, a popular social networking site that has millions of users worldwide.
Mourtada's lawyers are appealing the sentence.
"We live by hope," said Amina Mourtada. "We know of Fouad's innocence and we know that the sentence is ridiculous and unfair. So we're trying our best to do what we can."
She has created a website, www.helpfouad.com, that has up-to-date information on her brother's case, along with a petition for his freedom.
Amina Mourtada has also used another website to draw attention to her brother: Facebook. She created a group called "Help Fouad Mourtada," and by late Saturday afternoon it had about 1,300 members.
With files from The Associated Press
