Moroccan independent journalists describe climate of pervasive surveillance, harassment
July 1, 2019 12:00 PM ET
In March 2015, Hicham Mansouri emailed an anti-malware company, suspicious of possible signs that someone was able to access his device remotely, without permission. He remembers exchanging a few messages with the software company, but the correspondence was interrupted...
Moroccan court sentences two journalists to several years in prison
July 3, 2018 4:49 PM ET
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...
On June 28, 2018, the Casablanca Court of Appeals sentenced Hamid al-Mahdaoui to three years in prison and a fine of 3,000 dirhams (US $315) on charges of “failure to denounce a crime threatening national security,” according to news reports....
Editor of Morocco news website arrested on way to cover Rif protests
July 21, 2017 4:37 PM ET
New York, July 21, 2017--Moroccan authorities should immediately release Badil Editor-in-Chief Hamid al-Mahdaoui, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Police arrested al-Mahdaoui yesterday as he traveled to the Rif area of northern Morocco to cover protests, according to...
New York, June 20, 2017--Moroccan authorities should cease harassing Hamid al-Mahdaoui, the editor of the news website Badil, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Moroccan Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit has filed a criminal defamation complaint against al-Mahdaoui, and...
Moroccan court orders news website to shut for three months, fines editor
August 14, 2015 9:15 AM ET
New York, August 14, 2105--A Moroccan criminal court on Monday ordered the independent news website Badil to suspend operations for three months and handed a harsh fine to its editor-in-chief, according to news reports and the journalist who spoke to...
Moroccan editor, source convicted in defamation case
June 30, 2015 2:14 PM ET
New York, June 30--Moroccan journalist Hamid al-Mahdaoui was handed a four-month suspended prison sentence by a Casablanca court on Monday and ordered, along with a co-defendant named in the case, to pay a combined 100,000 Moroccan dirhams ($10,290) in damages...