Assahifa Al Maghribiya reporter questioned by prosecutor and intelligence services

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the arrest of Assahifa Al Maghribiya reporter Jamal Ouahbi by plain-clothes police as he was photographing three detainees being escorted from a court in the northern city of Tétouan on 7 November. Ouahbi, who believed the detainees could be terrorist suspects, was questioned by the city prosecutor and representatives of two intelligence agencies - the General Directorate for Investigation and Documentation (DGED) and the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST) - before being released. “Journalists working for independent media often have to cope with obstruction from the Moroccan intelligence services,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The authorities blow hot and cold as regards the press. We welcome efforts to open up broadcasting to the private sector and the provision of state funds to help the print media, but journalists should be able to do their job without repeatedly running up against members of the police or intelligence services.” The press freedom organisation added: “Many foreign journalists have also told us they are openly followed as soon as they arrive in Morocco. As a result, the people they interview are reluctant to talk because they are intimidated by the obvious presence of members of the intelligence services.” Ouahbi, who also works for the Journal Hebdomadaire and two Spanish dailies, El Mundo and El Faro de Ceuta, was taken to the office of Tétouan city prosecutor Abdelmohcine Al Bakali, where he was questioned at length about internal matters at his newspaper and his work for the foreign media. His press card and camera were taken from him. He went back to the court several times in an attempt to recover his camera and even offered to delete the photos he had taken, but it was retained “for analysis.” Reporters Without Borders was told Ouahbi had been investigating the arrest on 4 November of a small group of armed individuals suspected of being terrorists. He went to the main police station in Tétouan in an attempt to confirm the arrests, which the authorities apparently did not want to publicise. He also tried to get information from the investigative police department. He finally went to the courthouse when his sources told him the suspects were going to be taken before a judge.