(WAN/IFEX) – In a 3 May 2000 letter to Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi, WAN and the World Editors Forum expressed their serious concern at the sentencing to jail of journalists Khalid Mechbal and Mustapha Alaoui. According to reports, on 26 April, Alaoui, director of the Arab-language weekly “Al Ousboue”, was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment […]
(WAN/IFEX) – In a 3 May 2000 letter to Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi, WAN and the World Editors Forum expressed their serious concern at the sentencing to jail of journalists Khalid Mechbal and Mustapha Alaoui.
According to reports, on 26 April, Alaoui, director of the Arab-language weekly “Al Ousboue”, was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment for defaming Foreign Minister Mohammed Benaïssa. The following day Mechbal, director of another Arab-language weekly, “Le Nord 2000”, was given a suspended sentence of six months in prison by a court in Tangiers, also for defaming Benaïssa.
Alaoui was ordered to pay damages of 1 million dirhams (approx. US$100,000) and a fine of 20,000 dirhams, and was prohibited from practising his profession for three years. Mechbal was ordered to pay damages of 100,000 dirhams and a fine of 20,000 dirhams, and was barred from practising journalism for one year.
The prosecutions arose from the publication of articles concerning Benaïssa’s purchase of a residence in Washington while he was ambassador to the United States.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the prime minister:
– respectfully reminding him that the criminal law is a wholly inappropriate means of dealing with the issue of defamation, and that such practice contravenes several international agreements
– stating that you believe that a civil award of reasonable damages is adequate and appropriate relief in all proven cases of defamation
– further noting that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights considers that “detention, as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion, is one of the most reprehensible ways to
enjoin silence and, as a consequence, a grave violation of human rights”
– respectfully calling on him to ensure that the criminal convictions of Alaoui and Mechbal are overturned
– urging him to do everything in his power to ensure that in future Morocco ceases to criminalise those who seek to exercise their right to freedom of expression
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:Prime Minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi
Rabat, Morocco
c/o H.E. Ambassador to London
Fax: +72 25 3862Please copy appeals to WAN.
