Civil Society

Press Freedoms Under Threat in Morocco

By Blake Hounshell

Of late, Morocco has oft been identified by Western analysts as one of the few Arab states that is making genuine strides towards liberal democracy or, more appropriately, towards some relatively enlightened form of constitutional monarchy. The most prominent evidence supporting this view has  been King Mohammed VI's national commission to investigate human rights violations under his father's rule, and his reform of family law that aimed to reconcile Islamic tradition with international norms.

Yet it is clear that, at least in the critical area of freedom of the press, Morocco has a long way to go. The latest instance of government repression is the case of the independent French-language weekly Le Journal Hebdomadaire, whose publisher Abubakr Jamai and sub-editor Fahd Iraqi were recently slapped with a 350,000 euro fine for "defamation" of a supposedly private organization.  The decision was condemned both by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Committee To Protect Journalists.

According to RSF, this enormous sum, equivalent to 138 years worth of a minimum salary in Morocco, is the highest such fine ever levied on a Moroccan journalist. If enforced, the penalty would effectively shut down Le Journal for good.

The cause of the fine was a complaint filed by the pro-government European Strategic Intelligence and Security Centre (ESISC), in response to a Le Journal story casting doubt on the objectivity of the Centre's report on the Polisario Front. The latter is a controversial separatist movement aiming for the independence of Western Sahara. RSF characterized the Centre as a "foreign-based fake NGO" that is essentially a front for the Moroccan government.

Jamai and Iraqi were initially hit with 5,000 euro fines by a criminal court, before a civil court in Rabat imposed the aforementioned punitive damages on 16 February, also mandating that the two men publicize the court's reasoning in Le Journal Hebdomadaire, Maroc Hebdo and a third Moroccan weekly, El Ousboue. They intend to appeal the ruling.

Ali Amar, editor of Le Journal,  told RSF that "at no time had the [court] speeches focused on the alleged object of the libel. The plaintiff’s lawyer said that it was in reality a political trial and the court was as a result invited to judge the newspaper’s editorial line and opinions and not the object of the complaint. The lawyer for the centre produced in evidence previous front pages of the newspaper that dealt with sensitive issues, arguing that it was damaging Morocco’s image abroad."

In addition to the court sentence against the journalists, the newspaper itself suspiciously became the target of demonstrations for two days, as well as the subject of verbal attacks on state-run television news channels, which broadcasted footage of several hundred demonstrators chanting slogans against Le Journal outside of Parliament (and later outside the offices of the newspaper itself). One of the government-operated networks, 2M, said that the weekly was "running against public opinion by taking up positions against the sacred values of our country."

The ostensible pretext for the demonstrations was the paper's ten-page summary of the Danish cartoon brouhaha. The story included a wire-service picture of a reader holding France Soir, a Paris daily that republished the drawings depicting the Prophet. Anticipating controversy, Le Journal had blackened the cartoons themselves, although they were already difficult to see in the photograph.

A statement on the Le Journal website presents detailed evidence showing that the crowd was organized by the Casablanca municipal authorities. Jamai added via email to the Ibn Khaldun Center: “We're having problems for 6 years now, we never had the Ministry of Interior organizing demonstrations and the TV accusing us of insulting Islam and inciting hate and violence against us. This is the first time it is happening. A red line has been overstepped.”

Jamai also publishes the Arabic-language weekly As-Sahifa al-Ousbouiya in addition to Le Journal Hebdomadaire. His papers have grappled extensively with government corruption and other forbidden political subjects in Morocco, notably that of Western Sahara. In 2003 Jamai received the International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists, and in 2004 he was chosen to be a World Fellow at Yale University. Before this incident, his papers had been shut down twice in the past five years.

Aside from overt government legal pressures and transparent attempts at intimidation, merely publishing an independent newspaper is the business equivalent of a high-wire act in Morocco. Jamai, who comes from a business background, explained to Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) last year that his papers are boycotted by large companies that do business with the government, for fear that advertising with Jamai would jeopardize their relationships with the regime.

But despite the difficulties Jamai is facing it is not in his character to back down from a challenge. As he told CJR: "You're always confronted with ... the necessity of having a sound business to keep your newspaper going [versus] your editorial line and the moral contract you have with your readership. We decided at some point -- this might be perceived as being suicidal -- that the most important thing was the moral contract. If I'm not willing to be faithful to this moral contract -- to enjoy journalism -- then I better do something else, instead of cheating myself and cheating the readers and everybody else.

 “That's why we have been banned. Because we've tried to be journalists. We don't have a political agenda. We just write to be journalists.”

 Le Journal Hebdomadaire is available online here: http://www.lejournal-hebdo.com/