Moroccan court orders news website to shut for three months, fines editor
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 14 August 2015 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, Moroccan court orders news website to shut for three months, fines editor, 14 August 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/55d6e1404.html [accessed 2 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
New York, August 14, 2105--A Moroccan criminal court on Monday ordered the independent news website Badil to suspend operations for three months and handed a harsh fine to its editor-in-chief, according to news reports and the journalist who spoke to CPJ. Hamid el-Mehdaoui was convicted of criminal defamation.
"The judiciary should not be used to silence independent or critical media," CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said from Washington. "We call on Moroccan authorities to stop legally harassing Badil and to reverse this judgment on appeal."
A criminal court in the city of Meknas ordered Badil to halt operations for three months and ordered el-Mehdaoui to pay 30,000 dirhams (US$3,000) on criminal defamation charges, according to news reports. Badil has continued to operate since the sentence. El-Mehdaoui told CPJ that his lawyers have filed an appeal, but have not been given a date for a hearing.
The charge is in relation to a story published in Badil earlier this year about reports of a car bombing in the city, el-Mahdaoui told CPJ. The government said that the story, which was widely reported at the time, was false, according to the journalist and news reports. The complaint was filed in April by the king-appointed governor of the Meknas-Tafilalet region, Badil reported.
Badil has often published stories and columns that are critical of the government despite pressure from authorities, el-Mehdaoui told CPJ. Prior to founding Badil, el-Mehdaoui was a journalist at the independent news website Lakome, which was shut down in October 2013 after being targeted by the authorities several times for reporting on what the government said were taboo subjects.
"It is clear from the fact that Badil was the only outlet targeted regarding this story, which was carried by many other news outlets, that we are being targeted," el-Mehdaoui said.
This is not the first time el-Mehdaoui has been convicted of defamation. In June, a Casablanca court handed him a four-month suspended prison sentence on defamation charges, after a complaint was filed by the general directorate of national security over reports in Badil about the May 2014 death in custody of Moroccan activist Karim Lachqar. Moroccan authorities issued a statement denying any responsibility, according to news reports.
In addition to the suspended jail time, el-Mehdaoui and a source for the story, Rabea al-Ablak were ordered to pay a combined fine of 100,000 Moroccan dirhams (US$10,290). El-Mehdaoui appealed the conviction and sentence, he told CPJ. No court date has been set.
