Facebook users were surprised to find out that they could go to jail for impersonating a celebrity on Facebook.

This is what happened to 26-year-old Fouad Mourtada, who was sentenced to three years in prison, for creating a fake profile of the king’s brother, Moulay Rachid, on the Internet social networking site Facebook.

Despite an appeal to Prince Moulay Rachid for clemency , Fouad Mourtada was arrested on February 5 and also ordered to pay a $1,300 fine, for stealing the identity of the younger brother of King Mohammed VI.

Mr. Mourtada was accused of "villainous practices linked to the alleged theft of the [prince's] identity," BBC News reports.

In his defense, Mourtada said he was a great admirer of the prince and that he had only set up the profile for fun, meaning absolutely no harm to the royal family.

"It was just a joke, a gag. I regret my gesture and beg forgiveness from my whole family for the harm that I have caused them," Fouad was quoted as saying on www.helpfouad.com, a site created by his supporters.

Fouad declared that he was arrested, blindfolded and taken to a building where he was beaten unconscious, according to www.helpfouad.com.

Facebook is a social networking website, launched in 2004. It is the most popular site of this kind, with 62 million active users worldwide. There are fake profiles on Facebook for all the celebrities, from President Bush to Mother Teresa.

Earlier this week, many Moroccan bloggers went “on strike”, suspending their blog entries, in protest at Fouad Mourtada’s detention, BBC News informs.