S’habou, director of Le Maghreb newspaper, was sentenced to 10 months in prison on May 11, 1991 for “spreading false news” and defaming Minister of Transportation Ahmed Smaoui. The charges relate to a September 1990 article alleging that Smaoui had favored one car import firm over another. On December 3, S’habou was sentenced to another three-month prison term on a charge unrelated to his journalism.