Attacks on the Press 2009: Morocco
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…
Morocco’s most critical publication faces closure
New York, January 29, 2010—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the latest development in Moroccan authorities’ efforts to silence the independent newsmagazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire. Liquidators took control of the country’s most critical publication this week after a Casablanca commercial appeals court declared on Monday that Le Journal Hebdomadaire’s former publishing group, Media Trust, and…
Morocco steps up assault on online journalism
New York, December 18, 2009—The decision to jail a blogger and an Internet café owner is an escalation in Morocco’s already intense campaign against journalists and bloggers, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. CPJ called on Moroccan authorities to overturn both prison sentences on appeal.
CPJ’s 2009 prison census: Freelance journalists under fire
New York, December 8, 2009—Freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent of all journalists jailed worldwide, a dramatic recent increase that reflects the evolution of the global news business, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, CPJ found a total of 136 reporters, editors, and photojournalists behind bars…
Morocco silences the pens of its journalists
On the eve of Hillary Clinton’s departure to Morocco for the Forum of the Future on November 3, CPJ urged her to “impress upon the Moroccan authorities that a free press is a crucial component of any free society.” The forum is a gathering of political, business, and social leaders from the Middle East and…
CPJ to Clinton: Morocco censors, jails journalists
Dear Secretary Clinton: As you prepare for the Forum for the Future in Marrakesh next week, we’d like to bring to your attention a sharp spike in government repression in the host country, Morocco. The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that defends press freedom worldwide, has documented an aggressive crackdown on independent news outlets and journalists that has occurred over the last five months and has included judicial harassment, politicized prosecutions, obstruction, and censorship.
Audio Report: Middle East Bloggers
In our special report “Middle East Bloggers: The Street Leads Online,” CPJ’s Mohamed Abdel Dayem says blogging has become a crucial front in the region’s struggle for freedom of expression. Here, Abdel Dayem describes how two regional trends–booming Internet audiences and repression of traditional media–have made blogging a vibrant news alternative. Listen to the mp3…