Report on Media in Morocco - Arab Center for the Rule of Law and ...

specify, in its new formulation, the place to keep the seized material, as did the
previous law which stated that they could be deposited with State groups or
warehouses.
1-2-6-5 Prohibition of broadcasting bulletins and shows:
These prohibitions concerns the bulletins and shows, violating morals or causing harm
to the youth and are broadcasted and open before the public. The prime minister or the
authorities, as well as the local authorities, within their jurisdiction, are authorized to
impose such prohibition. In accordance with Article 66 of the Press Law, the
prohibition decision should be justified.
1-3 Media Censorship
Censorship, of the two types thereof, pre and post, remained a sword pointed at
journalism in Morocco for a long time, particularly the opposition press. The printing
offices of many newspapers and media institutions were broken into by security
forces while they were under print.
The Press and Publishing Law does not include any indication of such censorship.
Yet, this did not prevent censorship from being imposed to date. The data revealed by
the experts opinion poll led to the same results. 65% of those polled confirmed that
both self and government censorship markedly obstruct the independence of the
media. The daily "An-Nahar al-Maghribiyya" had complained about being subject to
this practice on two occasions. On the first, it said that at the end of 2005, security
forces broke into its printing office in order to exert pressure on the officers in charge
of printing to obtain a copy of the newspaper before printing. On the second, its
headquarters was broken into, coinciding with a long interrogation carried out by the
daily with the wife of one of an Islamic activist against whom terrorism are brought 57 .
In 2004, the monthly "Point of View (Wojhat Nazar)" magazine was subject to such a
practice when its printing office was raided and 8,000 copies were destroyed before
distribution, on the ground that it published a special file on the monarchy in
Morocco. The file included a lecture delivered by the Prince Moulay Hisham, the
King's cousin, at the French International Relations Institute on the "Family Code", as
well as an article on the army in Morocco. The front page of the confiscated issue
showed a picture of King Mohammed VI and his cousin. After the magazine's
manager resorted to court, a ruling was pronounced compensating him for part of the
loss he incurred. In another case, the weekly "al-Baydawi" was forced, under print, to
change the cover's title, according to what has been previously mentioned in the said
report.
The precedent set by the French "Le Nouvel Observateur" magazine in March 2006 is
worth nothing in this regard. The magazine, after preparing the material of a file on
Morocco, sent the said file to the Ministry of Communications, inquiring if such
material would cause any problems or not.
57 The wife of Abdel-Karim al-Majati who was one of the most wanted in terrorism cases, before being
killed in clashes with Saudi security forces.