Government seizes latest issues of sister weeklies for “disrespecting king”

Reporters Without Borders condemns the government's confiscation yesterday of the latest issues of the Arabic-language weekly Nichane and the French-language weekly TelQuel for “failing to respect” King Mohammed. “Press freedom violations are mounting dangerously in Morocco,” the organisation said. “The political and judicial authorities must abandon this archaic practice of systematically confiscating newspapers that criticise the king or tackle sensitive issues such as sexuality or religion. Moroccan society has evolved. It is time the politicians evolved too.” Reporters Without Borders added: “The government's talk of democratising Morocco is sounding more and more hollow. The authorities should immediately rescind the confiscation of these two weeklies and drop any plans to prosecute the journalists who produce them.” It was the prime minister who yesterday announced the seizure of Nichane for failing to accord due respect to the king and “expressions contrary to morality.” A few hours later, the interior minister ordered TelQuel's seizure for “disrespect for the king.” Nichane's latest issue criticised a speech that King Mohammed gave on 30 July. It also contained a feature on “Sex in Islamic culture” that was illustrated with ancient paintings and quotations from Arab and Muslim poets and authors about sexuality. The prime minister said in a statement: “It has been decided to seize issue 113-114 of the weekly Nichane, which has an editorial and articles containing expressions contrary to morality that offend the feelings of Muslims and furthermore constitute a failure to accord due respect to His Majesty the King.” Ahmed Benchemsi, who edits both newspapers, was taken in for questioning by the Casablanca police last night.