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.
Attacks on the Press in 2008: Morocco
Morocco continued to backslide on press freedom as independent journalists and news outlets were targeted in a series of politicized court cases. In May, the National Syndicate for Moroccan Press noted a “dangerous trend” in which authorities were “imposing exaggerated fines in defamation cases, resorting to preventive arrest of journalists … banning newspapers and instructing…
Bloggers support Morocco’s Mohamed Erraji
Bloggers across the Web are showing their solidarity with Mohamed Erraji, a Moroccan blogger who was sentenced to two years in prison last week for “failing to show respect for the king.” A Moroccan court convicted Erraji, 29, a contributor to HesPress, a Moroccan daily news Web site, on Monday in a closed, 10-minute trial.…
Morocco should allow Al-Jazeera to resume Rabat broadcast
New York, May 7, 2008—Moroccan authorities should immediately reverse this week’s decision to prevent Al-Jazeera from broadcasting its evening roundup of regional news and views from Rabat, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On Tuesday, the Moroccan National Agency for Telecom Technical Regulation notified Al-Jazeera that the frequency it had used for the Rabat-based…
Journalist goes on hunger strike in Morocco jail
New York, May 2, 2008–To mark World Press Freedom Day, Moroccan journalist Mustafa Hormatallah began a three-day hunger strike today to protest his imprisonment in Casablanca, while journalists led by the National Syndicate of the Moroccan Press planned to stage a sit-in on Saturday.
Journalist goes on hunger strike in Morocco jail
New York, May 2, 2008—To mark World Press Freedom Day, Moroccan journalist Mustafa Hormatallah began a three-day hunger strike today to protest his imprisonment in Casablanca, while journalists led by the National Syndicate of the Moroccan Press planned to stage a sit-in on Saturday. Hormatallah, a journalist with the independent weekly Al-Watan Al An,…
Morocco’s Supreme Court upholds journalist’s 7-month jail sentence
New York, February 21, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the Moroccan Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a seven-month jail sentence against journalist Mustafa Hormatallah. Hormatallah, a member of the editorial board of the Moroccan weekly Al-Watan Al An, was convicted in August 2007 of possession of stolen documents. The conviction concerned an…
Attacks on the Press 2007: Morocco
MOROCCO Press freedom continued its downward slide, belying Morocco’s carefully burnished image as a liberalizing country with a free press. Outspoken journalists found themselves in court, in prison, or out of work following a rash of politicized court cases, while the government of King Mohammed VI unveiled a restrictive new press bill. On May 3,…