(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi, RSF protested the ban on the two most recent issues of the weeklies “Le Journal” and “Assahifa”. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general, asked the prime minister “to reconsider his decision concerning the ban on these weeklies.” RSF recalled that, since the beginning of the year, […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi, RSF protested the ban on the two most recent issues of the weeklies “Le Journal” and “Assahifa”. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general, asked the prime minister “to reconsider his decision concerning the ban on these weeklies.” RSF recalled that, since the beginning of the year, seven newspapers’ issues have been banned by the Moroccan authorities, including two French titles, “Jeune Afrique – L’Intelligent” and “Le Figaro” (see IFEX alerts of 3 April and 21 March 2000).
According to the information collected by RSF, on 15 April 2000, the latest issues of the weeklies “Le Journal” and “Assahifa”, which are both published in France, were banned from Morocco. In its most recent issue, “Le Journal” had published an interview with the president of the Polisario Front, Mohammed Abdelaziz. It appears that the weekly “Assahifa”, the Arab-language version of “Le Journal”, which did not publish the interview, was penalised because it is part of the Media-trust group, the company which publishes both newspapers. The prime minister stated that this ban was aimed at “reaffirming the (government’s) determination to deal firmly with any flippant treatment of the Moroccan people’s feelings.”
