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,…

Press Freedom in Morocco A CPJ event co-hosted by the Congressional Caucus for Freedom of the Press Washington, September 21, 2007–U.S. congressmen emphasized the need for an open and free press in Morocco at an event hosted today by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Diplomats from the Moroccan, Tunisian, and Algerian embassies were part of…

New York, August 6, 2007— The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Moroccan government’s seizure of the editions of two independent newsweeklies over the weekend. Authorities alleged that the magazines disrespected King Mohammed VI and violated public morality. On Saturday, Moroccan police seized copies of the Arabic-language weekly Nichane from newsstands and other locations around…

New York, July 18, 2007—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the detention of two Moroccan journalists who are being held for publishing secret government documents. Abderrahim Ariri, publisher of the Moroccan weekly Al-Watan Al An, and Mostafa Hormatallah, a journalist for the paper, were summoned for questioning by police in Casablanca yesterday…

Morocco’s robust independent press has few rivals in the Middle East, yet press freedom has eroded under what many journalists and human rights groups consider a government-inspired judicial assault against outspoken newspapers. During the year, several such publications were targets of criminal prosecutions that produced high damages and prison terms for journalists.

MOROCCO Morocco’s independent press has grown bigger and bolder in recent years, challenging taboos against criticizing the monarchy and questioning Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara. In March, journalists welcomed a promise by Minister of Communications Nabil Benabdallah to end imprisonment as a punishment for offenses under the kingdom’s stringent press laws. The minister’s pledge, however,…

APRIL 12, 2005 Posted: April 13, 2005 Ali Lmrabet, Demain Libere LEGAL ACTION, CENSORED The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemned a Moroccan court’s decision to ban independent journalist and former newspaper owner Ali Lmrabet from practicing journalism for ten years. The sentence came just ten days before Lmrabet was expected to receive a license…

Morocco The government eased a crackdown against independent journalists launched after multiple suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003. But Moroccan journalists—among the most outspoken in the region—were still saddled with onerous press laws and a meddling government. In January, the day before Prime Minister Driss Jettou visited Washington, D.C., King Mohammed VI issued a general…

JANUARY 18, 2005 Posted: February 2, 2005 Al-Sharq Al-Hayat Al-Maghribiya CENSORED Ali Lmrabet, freelance HARASSED According to press reports and local journalists, intelligence agents notified the editors of the Oujda-based weeklies Al-Sharq and Al-Hayat Al-Maghribiya that they were to cease publication of their weeklies immediately for three months on order of the ministry.

The multiple suicide bombings that rocked Casablanca on May 16, killing 44 people, triggered a government clampdown on the local media and further dimmed hopes that 40-year-old King Mohammed VI would institute greater press freedoms. In the aftermath of the attacks, the government ordered at least four newspapers closed and detained or imprisoned five journalists.…