Category Archives: Freedom of the Press

The New Court Jester

Posted on January 24, 2012 by

Before he uttered a word, Mr. Abdelilah Benkirane, the new Moroccan Prime Minister, was made to understand he will be challenged. As he stood before the lectern to address Morocco’s bicameral Parliament, parliamentarian women stood up holding printed slogans expressing … Continue reading →

Posted in Abdelilah Benkirane, Arab World, Democracy, Freedom of the Press, HUMAN RIGHTS, Individual Freedom, MOROCCO, POVERTY | Tagged | 1 Comment

Betting on the King

Posted on June 14, 2011 by

The confident and fantastically positive promulgations of the government’s official spokesperson, Khalid Naciri, who seems to have forgotten his moment of ignominy, that the revolution of the people AND the king – as he termed it – is on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Freedom of the Press, Individual Freedom, MOROCCO | Tagged | 4 Comments

Silencing Rachid Nini

Posted on June 10, 2011 by

Rachid Nini, the executive editor of Al-Massae newspaper, was sentenced by a lower court in Ain Sbaa, Casablanca to one year in prison and fined one thousand Moroccan dirhams. He was charged with “grave contempt” to Morocco’s judicial system and … Continue reading →

Posted in Al Masae, Democracy, Freedom of the Press, MOROCCO, Rachid Nini | Tagged | 1 Comment

Liar, Liar…

Posted on November 15, 2010 by

After the tragic events of Laayoune last Monday, Moroccan, Algerian and Spanish governmental and independent media outlets inundated the national and international newsstands with a flurry of reports meant to inform the public and shed some light on the sketchy … Continue reading →

Posted in Algeria, Freedom of the Press, Journalism, Laayoune, MOROCCO, Spain, Western Sahara | Tagged | 14 Comments

The Hunt For Moroccan Militant Bloggers

Posted on February 3, 2010 by

Moroccan blogger and free speech militant Boubaker Al-Yadib was sentenced to six months in jail and fined $62 by a court in Guelmim. He was charged with vandalizing government property, unlicensed picketing, and assaulting a police officer. Observers believe the charges were fabricated and … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Freedom of the Press, HUMAN RIGHTS, MOROCCO | Tagged | 3 Comments

Falling From The King’s Grace

Posted on January 14, 2010 by

In the first week of 2010, Morocco has witnessed two momentous events that will undoubtedly set the tone for the rest of the year. They are harbingers of a positive institutional shift toward apolitical social development and equity. Or are … Continue reading →

Posted in Algeria, Democracy, Freedom of the Press, HUMAN RIGHTS, Individual Freedom, MOROCCO, Western Sahara | Tagged | 2 Comments

Enough With The Mindless Chauvinism

Posted on December 16, 2009 by

To read the urgent rallying cries in the slogan riddled open letters and petitions circulated by some Moroccan associations in the U.S. against the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights for its support of Aminatou Haider, to … Continue reading →

Posted in Algeria, Aminatou Haider, Democracy, Freedom of the Press, HUMAN RIGHTS, Individual Freedom, MOROCCO | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Morocco’s Undignified Independent Press

Posted on December 1, 2009 by

On Wednesday 25, Idriss Chahtane, the publishing director of the Moroccan weekly Al Michaal, addressed a panegyric letter replete with aureate expressions of deference to King Mohammed VI pleading to be pardoned. As you remember, Idriss Chahtane was sentenced on … Continue reading →

Posted in Al Machaal, Al Masae, Democracy, Freedom of the Press, Journalism, MOROCCO | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Politics Of Silence

Posted on November 5, 2009 by

Even as Morocco’s Minister of Foreign affairs Taieb Fassi-Fihri, during his meetings in Marrakesh with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary R. Clinton within the framework of the Forum for the Future, continues to tout, in his usual saccharine tone, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Al Masae, Democracy, Freedom of the Press, Individual Freedom, Journalism, JUSTICE, MOROCCO | Tagged | 3 Comments

I Am Pregnant And I Exist

Posted on October 30, 2009 by

In an already bifurcated country, The November issue of Femmes du Maroc – Women of Morocco, a Moroccan magazine that caters to the interests of Moroccan women with a panoply of feminine subjects is bound to turn into lascivious fodder … Continue reading →

Posted in Freedom of the Press, HUMAN RIGHTS, Individual Freedom, MOROCCO, Uncategorized | Tagged | 35 Comments

Morocco: Criminalizing The Independent Media

Posted on October 29, 2009 by

The Moroccan government’s unremitting onset against freedoms of the press and of expression has been gaining momentum recently. After the arrest of Idriss Chahtane, the managing editor of the weekly Al Michaal, and the sentencing of Rachid Mhamid and Mustapha … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Freedom of the Press, Journalism, MOROCCO | Tagged | 2 Comments

About Face

Posted on October 19, 2009 by

If you want to find journalists, human rights activists, and bloggers that speak their mind in Morocco today, look first in the government’s prisons. Then, check the holding pens of the country’s judicial system. You will find them clustered in groups … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Freedom of the Press, HUMAN RIGHTS, Individual Freedom, MOROCCO | Tagged | 1 Comment

Akhbar Al Youm: Moulay Ishmail?

Posted on September 29, 2009 by

Morocco’s ministry of interior ordered the seizure and banning of independent Moroccan newspaper Akhbar Al Youm for three days in a row, 26-28 September, 2009. According to a ministerial communiqué, the banned paper published a caricature of Mouly Ismail, the cousin … Continue reading →

Posted in Freedom of the Press, MOROCCO | Tagged | 13 Comments

Morocco: In Dire Need Of Journalistic maturity

Posted on September 9, 2009 by

Every time a Moroccan newspaper or magazine is banned from publication, a journalist or an editor investigated by the government, freedom of speech advocates and international media, like El Pais and Le Monde, cry wolf. They refuse to look beyond … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Freedom of the Press, Journalism | Tagged | 6 Comments

An Ideal Moroccan According to Khalid Naciri

Posted on August 8, 2009 by

Every time I listen to Mr. Khalid Naciri, Morocco’s communication Minister and the government’s official spokesperson, justifying the Moroccan government’s use of anachronistic and undemocratic laws to ban TelQuel, Nichane, and Le Monde in response to their publication of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Freedom of the Press, MOROCCO | Tagged | 4 Comments

Ten Years Later …

Posted on August 4, 2009 by

Like most Moroccans, I remember where I was when, on 23 July 1999 and after a thirty-eight-year reign, Hassan II died. The majority of adult Moroccans today grew up enwrapped by his exalted image and compensatory grandiose achievements which engorged … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Freedom of the Press, HUMAN RIGHTS, MOROCCO | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The Blogma’s Whims

Posted on September 19, 2008 by

Unlike many of my fellow bloggers, I don’t see the blogma as an integrated force of opinion. The value of the blogma lies in its ability to alert international and national organizations to transgressions that would otherwise go unnoticed. Without … Continue reading →

Posted in blogma, Freedom of the Press, MOROCCO | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

No Thanks To The Moroccan Justice System

Posted on September 12, 2008 by

For Erraji’s provisional freedom. It usually takes weeks if not months for such procedures to be processed through the Moroccan Justice bureaucracy. This unanticipated release bears all the symptoms of a surreptitious intervention by the king. I am sure the king’s intervention, … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Freedom of the Press, Mohamed Erraji, MOROCCAN JUSTICE, MOROCCO | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Erraji’s Idea

Posted on September 10, 2008 by

  When Mohamed Erraji was detained by the Moroccan police in Agadir last Thursday, he was questioned for seven hours and let go. He told friends and family he was asked for the password to his email account. He undauntingly … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Freedom of the Press, HUMAN RIGHTS, Journalism, JUSTICE, Mohamed Erraji, MOROCCAN JUSTICE, MOROCCO | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Behind Erraji’s Arrest

Posted on September 8, 2008 by

Mohamed Erraji, a blogger from Agadir, was arrested this past Friday for an article he published on the Moroccan e-zine Hespress.com. News of his arrest was reported by Hespress and echoed by a number of fellow bloggers, but has yet to … Continue reading →

Posted in Algeria, Democracy, Freedom of the Press, HUMAN RIGHTS, Journalism, JUSTICE, Mohamed Erraji, MOROCCAN JUSTICE, MOROCCO | Tagged , , | 11 Comments