PastTime to Repeal the Press Law
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports bad news all around for the Moroccan press. First, CPJ states that staff members at banned magazine Nichane have received death threats:
Benchemsi told CPJ that staff at Nichane had received death threats via phone and e-mail since the government made the charges against the publication. He said that the religious jokes involved God, angels and prophets as characters, but did not make fun of them. He added that Nichane staff did not write any of the jokes.
Second, CPJ also reports that Le Journal Hebdomadaire may close as a result of an unprecedented 3 million dirham damages award for alleged defamation in reporting on the Western Sahara. CPJ stated that Belgian journalist Claude Moniquet sued after Le Journal reported that his think tank's report on the Western Sahara was "guided by" the Moroccan government. Le Journal was denied the opportunity to introduce expert witnesses who would have testified that a report on the Western Sahara by Moniquet's think tank closely paralleled the government's position.
This is an extremely troubling situation and a sad turn of events.