(Ecofin Agency) - French journalists, Eric Laurent and Catherine Graciet, are in custody since 27 August in Paris for attempted blackmail and extortion on the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI. They spent the night at the Brigade de Répression de la Délinquance contre la Personne (BRDP – Bureau of Criminal Investigation on Crimes against Persons). Both journalists are suspected of trying to extort money from Morocco in exchange for not publishing a book which they said has compromising information on the Royal Palace.

The case dates back to 23 July, according to French lawyer Mr. Eric Dupond-Moretti, one the legal advisers for Morocco, who appeared on different French media. He had revealed the case on air at radio RTL. Based on his account, journalist Eric Laurent contacted the office of the secretary of the Moroccan Royal Palace to announce the pending release of a book containing “important things”. “A representative of the Palace was then sent to Paris where a first meeting occurred with Mr. Laurent”, explained the lawyer to the daily Le Monde.

In Paris, the meeting was held in the presence of a Moroccan lawyer to whom he said: “Listen, for 3 million Euros, I will not publish my book, a book I have been working on with Catherine Graciet”. After this first encounter, the Palace filed charges in Paris. “The police decided to organise a bust operation”, says Mr. Dupond-Moretti. A second meeting was scheduled, this time with wiretapping and surveillance from the police which thus obtained the evidence of the journalist’s intentions. The third and last meeting took place in a restaurant in Paris on 27 August, and Eric Laurent, who had come this time with Catherine Graciet was then apprehended. Three judges has begun a preliminary investigation the day before for attempted extortion and blackmail.

The two journalists co-authored in 2012 “The predator King. Misappropriation in Morocco”. It is a report “denouncing a system of economic predation practised by the monarch and his entourage”. According to publisher Editions du Seuil, the new book from the 2 journalists should be released in January-February 2016.