Ali Lmrabet files suit in France for slander against Moroccan minister of communications

Jailed Moroccan journalist and editor Ali Lmrabet has filed a suit for slander against the country's communications minister, Nabil Benabdallah, for calling him a liar at an 18 June press conference in Paris. The suit was presented to a Paris court on 16 September by his lawyer, Jean Martin. Lmrabet, owner and editor of Demain magazine and Douman as well as being the Reporters Without Borders correspondent in Morocco, was sentenced on appeal on 17 June to three years in prison for "insulting the person of the king", "undermining territorial integrity" and "attacking the institution of the monarchy." He has dual French and Moroccan nationality. He had printed a series of satirical articles and cartoons in the two magazines, which have both been banned. After a 50-day hunger strike in protest at being detained, he was sent back on 11 August to Salé Prison from Rabat's Avicenne Hospital, where he had been treated. The minister had said Lmrabet put out "disinformation, lies and insults … Each issue of his magazines was filled with such things and I can give you hundreds of examples... He has never behaved as a journalist." He added that Lmrabet "was not quite right in the head" and had a medical history. Lmrabet's lawyer said the remarks were "clearly defamatory" and "harm the reputation of a man who has spent his life informing the public at his own risk and is now in prison for doing so." Reporters Without Borders appealed in vain to King Mohammed VI on 29 July to pardon him on the Fête du Trône the following day. It said that "an offence of 'bearing ill will' cannot and should not be punished with imprisonment. This is the rule in all democracies and should be the rule in Morocco too. It affects the reputation of both your kingdom and yourself. "Lmrabet is a journalist, who pokes fun and mocks things, but he is just a journalist. A writer must not be jailed for simply offending the monarch. Lmrabet's jail sentence is a bad omen at a time when Moroccans should be united in the face of terrorism. You are the only person who can correct this error and repair this injustice." ______________________ Over 13 years ago, Reporters without Borders created its "Sponsorship Programme" and called upon the international media to select and support an imprisoned journalist. One hundred and twenty news staffs around the globe are thus sponsoring colleagues by regularly petitioning authorities for their release and by publicising their situations so that their cases will not be forgotten. Currently, Ali Lmrabet is sponsored by AVUI, Bakeas, Cadena SER, Cambio 16/Espacio de Informacion General (EIG), CNN+ - Onda Cero, Comunica e Inter Press Service, Diario Directo, El Mundo, El Pais, El periodico de catalunya, Espana-Hoy, France soir, Fun Radio, La Razon, La Vanguardia (Q), Radio Babel FM, Tiempo, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Vandellós i Associats.