Committee to Protect Journalists - Morocco tag:cpj.org,2008-09-16://1 2013-01-15T22:09:19Z Movable Type 4.38 Editor charged with defamation in Morocco tag:cpj.org,2013://1.20914 2013-01-15T22:01:47Z 2013-01-15T22:09:19Z New York, January 15, 2013--Authorities should drop the criminal defamation charges against an editor in Morocco who reported that a government official had ordered champagne to his hotel room while on a taxpayer-funded trip outside the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The official has disputed the account.... Committee to Protect Journalists New York, January 15, 2013--Authorities should drop the criminal defamation charges against an editor in Morocco who reported that a government official had ordered champagne to his hotel room while on a taxpayer-funded trip outside the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The official has disputed the account.

]]> Attacks on the Press: From Uprisings, Trends to Watch tag:cpj.org,2012://1.17659 2012-02-22T04:20:01Z 2012-02-21T16:56:31Z The Middle East's political shifts changed conditions for journalists dramatically. The emerging trends favor free expression, but are filled with ambiguity and depend on the political configurations to emerge after the revolutionary dust has settled. By Mohamed Abdel Dayem... Committee to Protect Journalists Photographers take cover during November protests in Tahrir Square. (AFP/Mahmud Hams)

The Middle East's political shifts changed conditions for journalists dramatically. The emerging trends favor free expression, but are filled with ambiguity and depend on the political configurations to emerge after the revolutionary dust has settled. By Mohamed Abdel Dayem

]]> Attacks on the Press in 2011: Morocco tag:cpj.org,2012://1.17567 2012-02-21T05:07:00Z 2012-02-16T11:02:24Z Committee to Protect Journalists King Mohamed VI pledged a series of constitutional reforms in March after the region’s wave of popular uprisings passed through the kingdom. But the reforms did not extend to opening up the press. Authorities took concerted measures to suppress coverage of mass protests in Casablanca’s streets. During a March protest in the capital, Rabat, uniformed police assaulted  several journalists covering its violent dispersal. The biggest and most controversial case in the kingdom was that of Rachid Nini, a prominent government critic, executive editor of the Moroccan daily Al-Massae, and owner of Al-Massae Media Group. He was detained in April and sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “denigrating judicial rulings” and “compromising the security and safety of the homeland and citizens.”

]]> Politicized prison sentence for Moroccan editor tag:cpj.org,2011://1.17433 2011-06-09T22:23:41Z 2011-06-09T22:35:38Z Committee to Protect Journalists New York, June 9, 2011-- Today's one-year prison sentence against Rachid Nini, executive editor of the Moroccan daily Al-Massae and owner of Al-Massae Media Group, is the latest instance of the Moroccan government settling scores with critical journalists through a judiciary that is subservient to the executive branch, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

]]> Morocco, Syria detain journalists; violations across region tag:cpj.org,2011://1.17253 2011-05-04T21:56:41Z 2011-05-04T22:11:46Z New York, May 4, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Morocco today to release editor Rachid Nini and sought the release of journalist Dorothy Parvaz as well as other journalists in Syria. Press freedom violations continued throughout the region, with abuses in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen.... Committee to Protect Journalists New York, May 4, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists called on Morocco today to release editor Rachid Nini and sought the release of journalist Dorothy Parvaz as well as other journalists in Syria. Press freedom violations continued throughout the region, with abuses in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Yemen.

]]> Bahrain expels CNN reporter, detains WSJ correspondent tag:cpj.org,2011://1.16955 2011-03-17T21:54:18Z 2011-03-17T22:10:59Z New York, March 17, 2011--Bahraini authorities expelled a CNN reporter and briefly detained another international reporter on Wednesday amid an intensified crackdown on political unrest. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Bahraini government's ongoing obstruction of news media and calls for authorities to allow journalists to cover this... Committee to Protect Journalists Police break up a protest camp in Manama's Pearl Square. (AFP/Joseph Eid)

New York, March 17, 2011--Bahraini authorities expelled a CNN reporter and briefly detained another international reporter on Wednesday amid an intensified crackdown on political unrest. The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Bahraini government's ongoing obstruction of news media and calls for authorities to allow journalists to cover this story of international import. Elsewhere in the region, anti-press attacks and harassment continued to be reported in Morocco, Yemen, and Libya.

]]> Attacks on the Press 2010: Middle East and North Africa Analysis tag:cpj.org,2011://1.16615 2011-02-15T05:51:00Z 2011-02-15T14:56:00Z Suppression Under the Cover of National Security By Mohamed Abdel Dayem Relying on an extensive network of sources in the military, government, and Islamist groups, Yemeni freelance journalist Abdulelah Shaea had become a frequent and pointed critic of the administration's counterterrorism efforts. By July, President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government... Committee to Protect Journalists Suppression Under the Cover of National Security A police trooper stands guard on a police vehicle outside a state security court in Sanaa, Yemen. (Reuters/Khaled Abdullah)

By Mohamed Abdel Dayem

Relying on an extensive network of sources in the military, government, and Islamist groups, Yemeni freelance journalist Abdulelah Shaea had become a frequent and pointed critic of the administration's counterterrorism efforts. By July, President Ali Abdullah Saleh's government had enough, dispatching security agents to seize and roughly interrogate Shaea for several hours about his reporting.

]]> Attacks on the Press 2010: Morocco tag:cpj.org,2011://1.16621 2011-02-15T05:24:00Z 2011-02-15T02:23:30Z h7 {float:none;width:auto;height:auto;font-family:sans-serif;font-weight:normal; margins:5px;} Top Developments • Government pressures advertisers, uses courts to punish critical media. • Authorities obstruct Spanish and other foreign reporters in Western Sahara. Key Statistic 2: Leading independent weeklies that closed under government pressure. A daily facing harassment moved online. The government continued using the judiciary... Committee to Protect Journalists Top Developments
• Government pressures advertisers, uses courts to punish critical media.
• Authorities obstruct Spanish and other foreign reporters in Western Sahara.

Key Statistic
2: Leading independent weeklies that closed under government pressure. A daily facing harassment moved online.

The government continued using the judiciary to settle scores with critical journalists and pressuring private advertisers to avoid probing publications, two hallmarks of its antagonistic approach to independent and opposition media. The tactics forced two leading independent weeklies to close and a critical daily newspaper to move online.

]]> Moroccan authorities impeding Spanish journalists tag:cpj.org,2010://1.16280 2010-11-09T21:27:36Z 2010-11-09T21:30:09Z New York, November 9, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by an increasing climate of hostility for Spanish journalists in Morocco, highlighted by official measures to prevent Spanish journalists from covering clashes in the Western Sahara. CPJ calls on Rabat to allow journalists to do their work unimpeded.... Committee to Protect Journalists New York, November 9, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by an increasing climate of hostility for Spanish journalists in Morocco, highlighted by official measures to prevent Spanish journalists from covering clashes in the Western Sahara. CPJ calls on Rabat to allow journalists to do their work unimpeded.]]> Morocco suspends Al-Jazeera operations indefinitely tag:cpj.org,2010://1.16252 2010-11-01T19:51:05Z 2010-11-01T20:13:16Z New York, November 1, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Moroccan authorities' decision to indefinitely suspend Al-Jazeera's reporting in Morocco. The government withdrew accreditations from Al-Jazeera staff. CPJ calls on the Ministry of Communications to rescind its decision.... Committee to Protect Journalists New York, November 1, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Moroccan authorities' decision to indefinitely suspend Al-Jazeera's reporting in Morocco. The government withdrew accreditations from Al-Jazeera staff. CPJ calls on the Ministry of Communications to rescind its decision.]]> CPJ urges Morocco to improve press conditions tag:cpj.org,2010://1.16110 2010-09-26T13:56:29Z 2010-09-27T14:51:26Z New York, September 26, 2010--On the eve of a high-profile conference on press freedom in Rabat, the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterates its call to King Mohammed VI to use his constitutional prerogatives to bring Moroccan legislation in line with international standards for freedom of expression. CPJ also urged... Committee to Protect Journalists King Mohammed IV at the United Nations last week. (Reuters/Chip East)

New York, September 26, 2010--On the eve of a high-profile conference on press freedom in Rabat, the Committee to Protect Journalists reiterates its call to King Mohammed VI to use his constitutional prerogatives to bring Moroccan legislation in line with international standards for freedom of expression. CPJ also urged the monarch to end the use of the judiciary and other government agencies to harass critical journalists. 

]]> Moroccan editor given politicized prison sentence tag:cpj.org,2010://1.14793 2010-06-15T22:00:13Z 2010-07-20T18:35:25Z New York, June 15, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Moroccan judiciary today to overturn a prison sentence given Friday to Taoufik Bouachrine, editor of the independent daily Akhbar al-Youm, on politicized criminal charges.... Committee to Protect Journalists New York, June 15, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Moroccan judiciary today to overturn a prison sentence given Friday to Taoufik Bouachrine, editor of the independent daily Akhbar al-Youm, on politicized criminal charges.

]]> CPJ urges Morocco to halt politicized prosecutions tag:cpj.org,2010://1.14396 2010-03-15T15:27:11Z 2010-03-15T15:58:44Z Your Majesty: The Committee to Protect Journalists is disappointed by the government’s continued use of the courts to suppress freedom of expression, and it urges you to use your constitutional prerogatives to end the unjust imprisonment of our colleague Driss Chahtan. We also ask you to instruct authorities to end the practice of withholding accreditation from journalists working for critical foreign news outlets. Committee to Protect Journalists Human rights coverage spreads, despite government pushback tag:cpj.org,2010://1.13971 2010-02-16T05:53:30Z 2010-02-15T22:04:31Z By Mohamed Abdel Dayem and Robert Mahoney The media in the Middle East loved the Intifada. Every detail of Israel’s violations of human rights in the late 1980s in the West Bank and Gaza appeared in the Arabic and Farsi press. The governments that owned or controlled these media... Committee to Protect Journalists http://cpj.org/ Reports of Egyptian police torture spark protests in Cairo. (Reuters/Mona Sharaf)By Mohamed Abdel Dayem and Robert Mahoney

The media in the Middle East loved the Intifada. Every detail of Israel’s violations of human rights in the late 1980s in the West Bank and Gaza appeared in the Arabic and Farsi press. The governments that owned or controlled these media outlets loved it, too. When pan-Arab satellite television stations emerged in the 1990s, they looped hours of footage of Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers repressing Palestinians. ]]> Attacks on the Press 2009: Morocco tag:cpj.org,2010://1.13882 2010-02-16T05:26:00Z 2010-01-27T18:03:04Z Committee to Protect Journalists http://cpj.org/ Top Developments
• Authorities censor, jail journalists to silence coverage of the royal family.
• Politicized courts issue heavy defamation awards.

Key Statistic
100,000: Copies of two weeklies destroyed by authorities because they carried a poll about the king.

As King Mohammed VI marked his first decade on the Alawite throne, his government moved aggressively to censor coverage of the royal family and silence other critical news reporting, fueling deep concern about the future of independent journalism in this North African nation.

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