Archive: morocco

17th October 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
A Moroccan editor has been jailed for “intentionally publishing false information” about the king's health. Driss Chahtan of al-Michaal newspaper was sentenced to a year in jail and two other journalists – Mostafa Hiran and Rashid Mahameed – were sentenced to three months each with a fine of 5,000… Read more
5th October 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Choosing a baby’s name ought to be a matter for the child’s parents, but it’s not always so simple. In Morocco, the parents of Tiziri el-Bechnaoui are struggling to register her name, six months after her birth. The problem is that Tiziri – which means “moon” in the Berber language, Tamazight – is… Read more
2nd October 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
The Moroccan interior ministry has swung into action over a cartoon (above) published in the daily newspaper, Akhbar al-Youm, last weekend. Police detained and interrogated editor/publisher Taoufik Bouachrine and cartoonist Khaled Kadar for more than 24 hours. They also sealed off the paper's… Read more
25th September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Morocco's fun-loving king, Mohammed VI, has run into trouble with environmentalists for having one of his luxury cars flown to Britain for repairs. The car, an Aston Martin DB7, travelled from Rabat in a specially-chartered Hercules transport aircraft. The Sun newspaper hasphotographs of it being… Read more
1st September 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Naâma Asfari, a Western Sahara human rights activist, has been jailed for four months in Morocco following a row with a policeman about his keychain. Asfari was stopped at a checkpoint outside Tantan on August 14. An officer noticed a flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic(unrecognised by… Read more
2nd August 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
The authorities in Morocco have seized the latest edition of two of the country's leading independent magazines – TelQuel (circulation 35,000) and Nichane (50,000). The reason? Both published an opinion poll showing that 91% of Moroccans have a "positive or very positive" opinion of the king's… Read more
27th July 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
I happened to be watching Moroccan television in July 1999 when the programme was interrupted. A newsreader appeared, announced the death of King Hassan and burst into a flood of tears. My Moroccan companion looked startled ( since the death was unexpected) but remained totally dry-eyed – which I… Read more
22nd July 2009
By: Brian Whitaker
Hot on the heels of the Egyptian poet who was jailed – and then released – for unpublished verses that “insulted” President Mubarak, the latest head of state to be attacked is Mohammed VI, king of Morocco, lover of water sports and Commander of the Faithful. The Arabist reports that two… Read more