Thanks to Abu Aard for highlighting Rashi Khilnani's article in Open Democracy on the latest example of legal subterfuge in Morocco used to silence daring media outlets:
Le Journal Hebdomadaire, an independent political weekly celebrated for its investigations and long a thorn in the king's side, now finds itself under what can only be described as a government conspiracy to quash it. The publication, already targeted by protestors mobilised by the government, was fined 3.05 million dirham (€350,000) on 16 February 2006 for the "crime" of writing on sensitive topics relevant to Moroccans today.
Most media organisations in Morocco are either owned by the state or by those affiliated with it, and stay clear of the government stance on three taboo subjects: the monarchy, the conflict in Western Sahara and religion (especially political Islam). Le Journal published articles on two of these subjects – religion and Western Sahara – and, in turn, was attacked by the third, the monarchy.
With a history of throwing journalists in jail and even forbidding them from practising their profession, Mohammed VI has long used the courts as a weapon to express his distaste of independent media. When these tactics brought international attention and condemnation from such groups as Reporters sans frontières (RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the government switched to a fresh strategy: financially suffocating the publications.
The huge fine imposed on Le Journal – upheld by the Rabat court of appeal on 18 April – was estimated by RSF as the equivalent of 138 years of minimum-wage work in the country. This is the largest-ever fine in a libel case in Morocco (and likely to bankrupt the magazine).
Frequent readers of this blog will recall just a few months ago how Tel Quel magazine faced a similar, though less direct, libel charge with an outrageously large fine. TelQuel's swift response - launching an online petition that gathered thousands of signatures from around the world - helped offset the legal assault. As TelQuel reported a few weeks ago, the plaintiff Halima Assali has now renounced her financial claim against the magazine. The second libel case against TelQuel also appears to have been quietly dropped.
With Le Journal Hebdomadaire (The Weekly Journal), the charges of "writing on sensitive topics relevant to Moroccans today" are perhaps more daunting. All the more reason to get the international solidarity campaign into high gear. It worked with TelQuel, and it may be what's needed to get King Muhammad VI to stop his cheeky game of crushing censorship via financial asphixiation.
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