(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed its gratitude to King Mohammed VI for pardoning jailed journalists Ali Lmrabet and Mohammed El-Hourd, together with five other journalists. The pardons for Lmrabet and El-Hourd were announced on 7 January 2004, along with those of Mustapha Alaoui, Abdelmajid Ben Tahar, Mustapha Kechnini, Abdelaziz Jallouli and Miloud Boutrigui. While expressing […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has expressed its gratitude to King Mohammed VI for pardoning jailed journalists Ali Lmrabet and Mohammed El-Hourd, together with five other journalists. The pardons for Lmrabet and El-Hourd were announced on 7 January 2004, along with those of Mustapha Alaoui, Abdelmajid Ben Tahar, Mustapha Kechnini, Abdelaziz Jallouli and Miloud Boutrigui.
While expressing gratitude, “Reporters Without Borders nevertheless regrets that the two journalists remained imprisoned for such a long period,” said Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “We hope that no journalist will be imprisoned in Morocco in the future,” he added.
Lmrabet, editor-in-chief of “Demain Magazine” and “Douman” and an RSF correspondent, is the recipient of the 2003 RSF-Fondation de France annual press freedom award. On 21 May 2003, a Rabat court sentenced him to four years in prison for “insulting the king’s person”, “threatening the integrity of the national territory” and “undermining the monarchy”. On 17 June, his sentence was reduced on appeal to three years in jail (see IFEX alerts of 8 January 2004, 3 December, 28 November, 23 and 17 October, 4 July, 18 and 10 June, 30 and 26 May 2003 and others).
El-Hourd, managing editor of the Oujda-based weekly “Asharq”, was remanded in custody on 13 June and sentenced on 4 August to three years in prison for “incitement to violence” under Morocco’s anti-terrorism law (see alerts of 8 January 2004, 28 November, 17 October, 6 August, 17 July, 26 and 20 June 2003).
Alaoui, managing editor of the Arabic-language weekly “Al Ousboue”, was charged with “condoning acts constituting terrorist crimes through publications offered for sale”. On 11 July, he was given a one-year suspended jail sentence and his publication was banned for three months.
“Asharq” editor-in-chief Ben Tahar was remanded in custody on 13 June on the order of the king’s prosecutor general. He was sentenced to one year in prison on 4 August for “incitement to violence” (see alerts of 8 January 2004, 6 August, 17 July, 26 and 20 June 2003).
On 3 November, Kechnini was sentenced to two years in prison, and Jallouli and Boutrigui to 18 months in prison, under the press law, for “failing to respect the king”, “undermining the monarchy” and “incitement through printed words to acts likely to harm internal security”. The three journalists had appealed and had not been imprisoned (for the Kechnini case, see alerts of 8 January 2004, 28 November, 17 October, 6 August, 17 July, 26 and 20 June 2003).
