IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
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ALERT - MOROCCO

23 April 2004

Editor of weekly imprisoned following attack on government minister

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF is extremely concerned over the abrupt imprisonment of Anas
Tadili, editor of the weekly "Akhbar al-Ousbouaâ", on 15 April 2004. While
officially arrested over a legal matter dating back 10 years, RSF fears Tadili
may have been detained for an article published in his newspaper, and that the
arrest was in fact the result of political pressure.

On 9 April, Tadili's paper published an article entitled "Homosexuality and the
political class in Morocco", detailing the homosexual adventures of a government
minister at a resort in northern Morocco. Though he was not named in the
article, the story was clearly aimed at the finance minister, who, in turn,
reportedly pressured the justice minister to arrest the journalist.

"We are concerned by the timing of the events in this case. Mr. Tadili was
arrested last week after being summoned to Rabat police headquarters in the
middle of the night for a legal matter dating back to 1994. When he was unable
to come up with the three million dirham fine euros) immediately, he was detained. Somewhat disturbingly, his arrest comes
only days after an article questioning the morality of a government minister
appeared in his newspaper. We fear that Mr. Tadili's arrest is in fact a
response to political pressure and an attempt to circumvent the legal process.
If this is the case, we ask that he be tried under existing press laws. While
personal attacks in the media are certainly questionable from an ethical
standpoint, we nonetheless expect greater transparency in the application of the
rule of law", said the organisation.

On 15 April, at 10:00 p.m. (local time), Tadili was summoned to Rabat police
headquarters and ordered to pay a fine of three million dirhams. In 1994, the
journalist had been charged with evading foreign exchange regulations after
opening an account abroad. He received a six-month suspended sentence and a
three-million dirham fine, but appealed the ruling. In 2001, the ruling was
confirmed by the Appeals Court. Since Tadili had never paid this fine, his
detention on 15 April was expedited without difficulty. He has remained
imprisoned in Salé since that time, without possibility of appeal.

On 19 April, Tadili appeared before Rabat Court's crown prosecutor over an
inquiry launched on the orders of Prime Minister Driss Jettou, who is entitled
by law to file a lawsuit when the honour of a member of his government has been
called into question.

For further information, contact Agnès Devictor at RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie,
Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail:
[email protected], Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of RSF. In
citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
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