Six media libel cases pending in Moroccan courts

[sbs]

Rabat, Morocco, 02/01 - Six "sensitive cases" of libel against the local media were still pending in Moroccan courts, according to the kingdom`s minister of justice, Mohamed Bouzoubaâ.

In an interview published Monday, Bouzoubaa told the independent `La Gazette du Maroc` weekly that in one of these, a journalist with the independent daily "Al Ahdat Al-Magribiya" personally wrote an "insulting and libellous" to the president of a court in Beni-Mellil (Middle Atlas) in which he described its judges as "corrupt".

On the other hand, a local journalist based in the northern city of Tangiers, who has faced several libel cases before, was sentenced and has filed an appeal in a higher court.

In the third case, a journalist called Koukass interviewed Nadia Yassine, the daughter of Cheikh Yassine, spiritual leader of an unregistered Islamist association "Adl Wal lhssane" (justice and beneficence), who claim that "monarchical rule is not suitable for Morocco."

Meanwhile, the "Al Michaâl" newspaper and its journalist Driss Chabtan has filed an appeal against sentence after being found guilty of uttering "slanderous" words against the Algerian President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

Bouzoubaa said that the court handed a one-year suspended sentence to Idriss Chabtan and fined him 10,000 euro. The court of cassation is expected to give its verdict on the appeal.

The minister said that another case was pending against a journalist with "Al Oubour" newspaper in Nador, northwestern Morocco, who "insulted" the town`s magistrates.

He said that in the sixth case, the Arab language "Al-Ayyam" newspaper has been sued for carrying "false" news and publishing pictures of members of the royal family without authorisation from the king`s palace.

Asked to comment on the raging debate generated by the decision to create a censorship unit charged with monitoring press reports, the minister said; "I have not formed any special unit to control news reports."

He explained that producing press reviews was the only role assigned to the unit he had created.

"The press helps me a lot in my work" as it is the efficient link between people and the courts, the minister told the weekly, adding that libel cases against the media were less in Morocco than in other countries.

[Ghazala]

There is no freedom of the the media. I'm still seething from the football fiasco. We wen't be reading about the cr@p which went on cos' the current FA head is also head of the Army isn't he???? Still FURIOUS