(RSF/IFEX) – On 21 May 2003, RSF voiced its disappointment over the jailing of newspaper editor Ali Lmrabet. The editor of the weeklies “Demain Magazine” and “Douman” was imprisoned immediately after a court convicted him of “insulting the king”, sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine of 20,000 dirhams (approx. US$2,300; 2,000 […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 21 May 2003, RSF voiced its disappointment over the jailing of newspaper editor Ali Lmrabet. The editor of the weeklies “Demain Magazine” and “Douman” was imprisoned immediately after a court convicted him of “insulting the king”, sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine of 20,000 dirhams (approx. US$2,300; 2,000 euros) and banned his two weeklies. Lmrabet has been on hunger strike since 6 May.
“We are dismayed and horrified by this verdict,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard, while calling for Lmrabet’s immediate and unconditional release. “The Moroccan justice system has once again proven its inability to act independently,” Ménard added.
Ménard noted that this was the first time that Article 400 of the Criminal Code has been applied in the case of a press offence. The article in question allows for a defendant’s immediate arrest. “Is Ali Lmrabet a dangerous criminal who must be imprisoned on the spot?” he asked. Ménard said the four-year jail sentence posed “a clear threat to the rest of the independent press.”
RSF called on King Mohammed VI to act boldly to demonstrate his commitment to genuine press freedom, without taboos and no-go zones, a freedom that was seriously undermined by the 21 May verdict against Lmrabet.
