Morocco hands local journalists suspended prison sentences, expels Dutch journalist
On January 2, 2018, a court in Rabat, Morocco’s capital, charged four local journalists with disclosing unpublished information concerning a parliamentary commission of inquiry, according to one of the journalists, Mohammed Ahdad, who spoke with CPJ. On March 27, 2019, the court gave each journalist a six-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 10,000…
Hundreds of journalists jailed globally becomes the new normal
For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
CPJ Safety Advisory: Pegasus spyware used to target journalists, civil society
[EDITOR’S NOTE: See CPJ’s updated safety advisory here https://cpj.org/2019/11/cpj-safety-advisory-journalist-targets-of-pegasus-.php.] In a report published on September 18, Citizen Lab said it had detected Pegasus, a spyware created for mobile devices, in over 45 countries. Pegasus, which transforms a cellphone into a mobile surveillance station, could have been deployed against a range of journalists and civil society…
Moroccan court sentences two journalists to several years in prison
New York, July 3, 2018–Moroccan authorities should immediately release journalists Mohamed al-Asrihi and Hamid al-Mahdaoui and drop all charges against them, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The Casablanca Court of Appeals sentenced al-Asrihi on June 26 to five years in prison and a fine of 2,000 Moroccan dirhams (US$210), according to news reports;…
Critical Moroccan journalist arrested on several charges
Moroccan police on February 23, 2018 arrested Taoufik Bouachrine, a columnist and the publisher of Akhbar al-Youm, at the newspaper’s headquarters in Casablanca on charges including human trafficking, sexual assault, rape, prostitution, and harassment, according to his lawyers, outlets, and news reports.
Moroccan court convicts local publisher of criminal defamation
New York, February 14, 2018–Moroccan authorities should drop all charges against Akhbar al-Youm columnist and publisher Taoufik Bouachrine on appeal, and allow him to work without fear of reprisal, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Record number of journalists jailed as Turkey, China, Egypt pay scant price for repression
For the second year in a row, the number of journalists imprisoned for their work hit a historical high, as the U.S. and other Western powers failed to pressure the world’s worst jailers–Turkey, China, and Egypt–into improving the bleak climate for press freedom. A CPJ special report by Elana Beiser
Moroccan authorities detain, expel British journalist
New York, September 29, 2017–Moroccan authorities should lift any restriction on journalist Saeed Kamali Dehghan’s ability to travel to the country, and allow all journalists to report freely on matters of public interest, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Plainclothes policemen on September 27 detained Dehghan while he was reporting on the anti-corruption Al-Hirak…
Moroccan video blogger sentenced to 10 months in prison
A Moroccan court on August 18, 2017 sentenced video blogger Mohamed Taghra to 10 months in prison for criminal defamation after he published a report on local police corruption in the country’s central Souss-Massa region, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information and the Arab Bloggers Union reported.
Morocco deports Spanish journalists
New York, July 27, 2017–Moroccan authorities should lift any restriction on the ability of journalists José Luis Navazo and Fernando Sanz to enter the country and should allow journalists to report freely on matters of public interest, including protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.