| Al Massae: Independant Press and Moroccan Justice System |
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| HASSAN MASIKY | ||||||||
 Despite showing remarkable progress in the realm of freedom of expression, the Moroccan government, notably the Ministry of Justice, insists in discounting one of the indispensable pillars of a democratic society: an independent judiciary system. Moroccan magistrates, time and again, persist in disregarding this reality by not timely reviewing judicial decisions on sensitive court cases that have political overtones. Case in point is the flawed court decision rendered against the Moroccan daily "Al Massae".Let me start by a disclaimer, I enjoy reading 'Al Massae" and admire the courage of its editorial line. I read on several occasions that it is the most widely read daily newspaper in Morocco with more than seven hundred thousands daily readers, and understandably so! "Al Massae" was found guilty of defamation against public figures in its reporting on the "homosexual scandal" in Kser El Kebir. The lead plaintiff in the case happened to be nonetheless a former human rights minister and a practicing lawyer. In its decision, the Court asked the editor in chief of the publication to pay the outrageous fine of six hundred million Moroccan Dirhams. Of course the truth is that the editorial team of this newspaper has been vexing several high figures in the Moroccan elite; members of this influential group are inside and outside governmental circles. This "elite" group, disregarding the national interest of the country, was out to silence a brave, independent and popular media outlet. Once again, the court was, regrettably, the easiest and most effective way to get the job done. Well aware that a domestic newspaper with limited resources will never be able to pay such a ridiculous fine, the enemies of free press in Morocco are awaiting the demise of "Al Massae", as it happened before to other papers in similar situations. Wasted in this debate is the harm this case has done and continues to do to the image and prestige of Morocco on the international scene. The plot to silence "Al Massae" exposes the moral corruption and ineffectiveness of the Moroccan judicial system and for no apparent reason other than to feed the self-serving interest of a well known group of corrupt individuals. To be expected, this case has been misused by the enemies of Morocco to taint the reputation its image, but also attracted the due attention of well meaning human rights organization worldwide. It is overdue for the Moroccan officials to realize that their will never be a true democracy in Morocco without an independent corruption free judiciary. While the Moroccan King made tremendous efforts to clean up and improve the democratic conditions in his country, these "silly" cases make the efforts to spotlights the good changes even harder. Please overturn the court decision against "Al Massae" and let the free press in Morocco thrive for the interest of all.
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A. Lahjouji
said:
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Personal responsibility Mr. Belkhayat, Intellectual deserts, accountability … How about personal responsibilities? With the advent of internet, for example, knowledge is within reach for a much large sector the world population – this, however, is not readily digestible without some personal effort and commitment to ones self development. Where I respectfully disagree with your point is the “exclusive mutuality.” Either-Or is much more suited for machines than man, which is far more complex. What I am suggesting is win them all, with little no “collateral damage.” Yes it is factually true that Morocco has tremendous battles to fight at all fronts and this is generational burden. That, however, doesn’t mean that Morocco hasn’t made progress and continues to move forward. The quick fix approach doesn’t fit our challenges. And if it did, I would still caution against it because it doesn’t address the core problem: shift of responsibility and therefore lack of ownership and accountability – we are all responsible, not just them! The kind of change we are dealing with here cannot happen any other way but gradual. What has the potential of transforming societies if for each of us to play his/her to maximum – this is the stuff that transforms societies. As for the Moroccan Sahara, there can be no doubt that our brothers/sisters held in captivity in the camps of Tindouf, under the gun of terrorists, will eventually be reunited with their families in their home country Morocco – this is a matter or when, not if! How soon will this happen depends largely on whether or not the Moroccan people play their part in putting an end to this long-lived mockery. Regards, Ahmed |
Mohamed Belkhayat
said:
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Mr. Dear Masiky, 1- I'm Moroccan and I do not really know the history of the Sahara. 2- I do know that the intellectual deserts occupying the minds of Moroccans are much larger and deserve much more attention than the deserts of the Sahara. 3- If we compare the case to Spain then we need to compare the democracy we offer the Saharaouis with the democracy Spain offers the basque. There is no real democracy in morocco, let us be realistic here. We have a long way to go. there is no real accountability where it matters and there is no real justice. We love to speak about territorial integrity! how can there be territorial integrity when the police man can be bribed with 20 dirhams? Territorial integrity means absolutely nothing when the weak are constantly trying to flee and drown in the process. territorial integrity is a tool used by the strong and the rich to keep the weak and the poor in check. that's how I see it, unfortunately! Mohamed belkhayat mbnns@yahoo.com |
fares
said:
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Voice of change Al Massae is the voice of change in Morocco. The change which is always claimed in this board. Thus, I allow myself to fully express my support for Al Massae here. I am reading Al Massae everyday and I noticed two things about it: - Al Massae is reporting the true image of what is happening in Morocco and put it in balance with the "elite" discourse showing the extreme contradiction, - Al Massae is the only voice of the major part of Moroccans who can not express themselves loudly because they lack freedom and because of decades of fear and unfair punishments, Morocco is always hold up as an example of free expression in North Africa. This won’t be the case if the Moroccan justice did not follow the change. |
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