(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Culture and Communication Mohammed Achaari, RSF protested the ban on the 6 September 2001 issue of the Spanish daily “El Mundo”. “Every time a foreign newspapers writes an article that displeases the Moroccan government, it gets banned,” said Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. ” ‘El Mundo’ is […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Culture and Communication Mohammed Achaari, RSF protested the ban on the 6 September 2001 issue of the Spanish daily “El Mundo”. “Every time a foreign newspapers writes an article that displeases the Moroccan government, it gets banned,” said Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. ” ‘El Mundo’ is the fifth foreign publication to get censored since the beginning of the year.”
According to information collected by RSF, the 200 copies of the Thursday 6 September issue of “El Mundo” were seized at the Casablanca Airport. The newspaper contained statements by Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister Josep Pique, to the effect that “there was evidence of collusion between the Moroccan police and (immigration) mafias.”
“El Mundo” is the fifth foreign newspaper to be banned in Morocco since the beginning of this year. Issue 1528 of the Spanish weekly “Cambio”, dated 19 March, which contained a report titled “Western Sahara Prepares for War”, was also banned (see IFEX alert of 14 May 2001). In addition, the 17 May issue of the French weekly “Courrier International” was seized at the border because of an article titled “In the biggest Berber nation in the world”, excerpted from the 12 May issue of “Demain Magazine”, a Moroccan weekly (see IFEX alert of 22 May 2001). The article was accompanied by a cartoon of King Mohammed VI that was not included in the Moroccan issue, which was distributed without incident.
In January, issue 827 of the Spanish weekly “Epoca” was also seized by the Moroccan authorities, who offered no explanation for their action (see IFEX alert of 24 January 2001). The issue included a report titled “Morocco: the Totalitarian Temptation”, which criticised the Moroccan government’s 2 December ban on the weeklies “Demain”, “Le Journal” and “Assahifa”. The article sharply condemned “the Moroccan regime’s fear of a truly independent press, which could open citizens’ eyes to an absolute monarchy regime based on a system of feudal power.” The 22 July edition of “El Pais” was blocked at Sochepresse, the company that distributes the newspaper in Morocco. It contained a report titled “Mohammed VI: a King on his Last Legs”.
