Morocco Blocks Distribution of Le Monde because of Cartoon
The cartoon, which drew an stern response from Rabat, underlines the case in Morocco of cartoonist Khalid Gueddar, whose trial for "lacking respect of the royal family" started 10 days ago in the city of Ain Sebaa, close to Casablanca.
The Le Monde cartoon (above), by artist Plantu, features a hand coming out of the Moroccan flag and drawing the figure of what looks like a crowned clown with the following legend: "Trial in Morocco against the caricaturist Khalid Gueddar who dares to draw the Moroccan royal family."
Taoufik Bouachrine, the publisher of Akhbar al Youm, the paper that employs Gueddar, was also indicted for insulting the royal family. His paper has since been shut down by order of the Interior Ministry.
Reuters quoted Bouachrine as saying the indictments are part of "an ongoing massacre of press freedom" in Morocco.
A senior Moroccan official who chose to remain unnamed justified the banning of Thursday's and Friday's editions of Le Monde by saying, "We will never accept, on grounds of freedom of expression, a systematic attack on national symbols."
Two other journalists from the Al Michaal magazine are awaiting sentence after being tried for publishing allegedly false information about the health of king Mohammed. And the editor and a reporter of the daily Al Jarida al Oula are also on trial because of the same allegations.
Insult laws, created by the Roman Empire to shield the emperor from the criticism of the people, still constitute, 21 centuries later, some of the most effective tools to silence the media.
They also are the hallmark of paranoid regimes, terrified that a free press would keep the public informed.
The Le Monde cartoon (above), by artist Plantu, features a hand coming out of the Moroccan flag and drawing the figure of what looks like a crowned clown with the following legend: "Trial in Morocco against the caricaturist Khalid Gueddar who dares to draw the Moroccan royal family."
Gueddar's is the third trial against journalists in Morocco in one month, in what press freedom forces there call an unprecedented crackdown on press freedom.
Taoufik Bouachrine, the publisher of Akhbar al Youm, the paper that employs Gueddar, was also indicted for insulting the royal family. His paper has since been shut down by order of the Interior Ministry.
Reuters quoted Bouachrine as saying the indictments are part of "an ongoing massacre of press freedom" in Morocco.
A senior Moroccan official who chose to remain unnamed justified the banning of Thursday's and Friday's editions of Le Monde by saying, "We will never accept, on grounds of freedom of expression, a systematic attack on national symbols."
Two other journalists from the Al Michaal magazine are awaiting sentence after being tried for publishing allegedly false information about the health of king Mohammed. And the editor and a reporter of the daily Al Jarida al Oula are also on trial because of the same allegations.
Insult laws, created by the Roman Empire to shield the emperor from the criticism of the people, still constitute, 21 centuries later, some of the most effective tools to silence the media.
They also are the hallmark of paranoid regimes, terrified that a free press would keep the public informed.
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