(RSF/IFEX) – Ali Lmrabet, publisher of the weekly magazines “Demain Magazine” and “Douman” and RSF’s correspondent in Morocco, was expected to face a Rabat court on 7 May 2003, charged with “insulting the person of the king.” On 2 May, his publishers told him they would no longer print his magazines. These and other cases […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Ali Lmrabet, publisher of the weekly magazines “Demain Magazine” and “Douman” and RSF’s correspondent in Morocco, was expected to face a Rabat court on 7 May 2003, charged with “insulting the person of the king.” On 2 May, his publishers told him they would no longer print his magazines.
These and other cases are described in a survey entitled “Warnings for the Independent Press”, resulting from a visit by RSF to Morocco from 22 to 27 April to examine the state of press freedom in the country.
The Moroccan press blossomed during the last years of the late King Hassan II’s reign. Several independent newspapers broke taboos and exposed various scandals. However, the media’s new candour displeased the country’s rulers.
The regime uses a range of means to discourage a new generation of journalists. The Lmrabet case illustrates what they are confronted with: the courts’ lack of independence, the difficulties of raising sensitive topics, such as “the person of the king”, the growing interference of state security agents, advertising boycotts and pressure from advertisers and printing houses.
The RSF survey condemns the regular interference by the government intelligence service, the Direction de la surveillance du territoire (DST). These days, the press can write about and even criticise DST chief Hamidou Laânigri, but some aspects of the secret services’ operations remain sensitive. Journalists spoke of being followed, having their phones tapped and being threatened.
The foreign media is also placed under surveillance, as the authorities have always been very sensitive about the country’s image abroad. The Communications Ministry often complains when the foreign media cover an event in a way it does not like. Foreign journalists are sometimes followed and harassed and publications are censored when they report on sensitive subjects.
The RSF survey condemns clauses of the new press law that retain prison sentences for certain press offences. Article 41 provides for three to five years’ imprisonment for “any attack on Islam, the monarchy or territorial integrity”. The report also describes the recent unofficial ban on the pan-Arab television station Al-Jazeera and the censorship, since 2001, of the Islamist weekly “Rissalat al-Foutouwa” (see IFEX alerts of 20 and 11 April 2001).
In its report, RSF calls for an amendment of the press law, the removal of prison sentences for press offences, and a clearer definition of the term “any attack on Islam, the monarchy or territorial integrity”, which, the organisation says, can be interpreted very broadly. RSF also calls for state subsidies and advertising to be allotted to newspapers in an open manner.
The report will be available shortly in English on RSF’s website: http://www.rsf.org
