Editor of provincial newspaper targeted by campaign of intimidation

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the harassment and intimidation of editor Brahim Fillali ever since he began publishing a new, local newspaper, Ici et Maintenant, in the southern city of Ouarzazate. This has included a recent arson attack on the newspaper which the police refuse to investigate. "We call on the Moroccan authorities to responded to the complaint brought by Brahim Fillali and to quickly catch those responsible for setting fire to his newspaper," the press freedom organisation said, adding, "it is unacceptable that a journalist is unable to work freely and fears for his physical safety." The intimidation began with a threatening letter on 26 November, just after Fillali had brought out the third issue of Ici et Maintenant. Then, on 3 June, he received an oral summons from the criminal investigation department of the Ouarzazate gendarmerie and was accused of writing about matters "affecting Moroccan institutions and national integrity." He ignored two such warnings. Finally, the newspaper's premises were set on fire on 23 June. Fillali immediately tried to file a complaint with the gendarmerie in Msemrir, but the police there refused to register it. The officer in charge said the investigation could not begin until Fillali identified a suspect - an attitude contrary to all logic and conventional procedure in police investigation. Published every two weeks and containing articles in both French and Arabic, Ici et Maintenant claims to be independent and self-financed. It has been clearly committed to covering human rights and other sensitive issues in the Ouarzazate area, including police violence against the population of Tinghir and a miners' strike in Imini. Fillali attributes the harassment to the fact that his newspaper sided with the miners in Imini in their strike against the mine's management over alleged embezzlement. He told Reporters Without Borders he now fears for his life.