“wo French journalists have been placed under formal investigation after Morocco’s King Mohammed filed a complaint accusing them of attempting blackmail by threatening to publish a book about him, a judicial source said. The king’s lawyer, Eric Dupont-Moretti, told RTL radio that Eric Laurent and Catherine Graciet were arrested on Thursday after a police sting in which he said the journalists received a payment and signed a contract for not publishing the book. The French judicial source told Reuters the two freelance journalists, who had previously published a book criticizing the monarch, were placed under investigation on Friday evening and released from custody overnight.”
Source: French journalists probed on suspicion of blackmailing Moroccan king | Reuters
