Jailed newspaper editor rushed to hospital

Reporters Without Borders voiced deep concern about the condition of jailed newspaper editor Ali Lmrabet, who was rushed to Rabat's Avicenne hospital today and put on a drip. Lmrabet, who was imprisoned on 21 May, has been on a hunger strike since 6 May. His physician said he was in a very weak condition. The doctor said: "He has not been able to drink since yesterday. He is throwing everything up. He has great difficulty talking. And he can no longer walk." Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Ménard said the organisation was "terribly worried" and urged the authorities not to return Lmrabet to prison. "He must remain in hospital for a considerable period of time and must get the best treatment," he said. "The Moroccan authorities are responsible for Lmrabet's health. They will bear a heavy responsibility if anything unfortunate happens. The king cannot remain indifferent to what happens to him. This is no longer just about press freedom, a man's life is at stake," Ménard said. The editor of two satirical weeklies, the French-language Demain Magazine and its Arabic-language version Douman, Lmrabet was sentenced to four years in prison on 21 May for "insulting the person of the king", "offence against territorial integrity" and "offence against the monarchy." The court also fined him 20,000 dirhams (about 2,000 euros) and banned his two weeklies. Since the day of his conviction, he had been held at Salé prison near Rabat, where he was sharing a cell with two inmate held for common crimes. When he began his hunger strike on 6 May, Lmrabet said he was acting to defend his rights, to put an end to repeated acts of intimidation against his printer and others who would otherwise be ready to print his weeklies, and in order to be able to enjoy the right to freedom of movement. In the order the cartoons appear - see below: 1) Douman: "The wedding of Sheikh Idris (Driss Basri, the late King Hassan's interior minister) and his friends" Ali Lmrabet's offence in this cartoon is the use of a photo of the "lamaria" (the royal wooden throne) that King Mohammed used for his wedding, but with Driss Basri sitting on the throne in the montage, not the king. 2) Douman: "The king's budget before parliament" Each year, parliament votes the civil list, that is to say, the budget assigned to the king and his household. 3) Douman: "History of slavery" In the last picture of this cartoon strip, when the king's train is travelling around the kingdom, it is customary for local dignitaries to go to the station and bow to the train as passes through. Demain Magazine - 8 March 2003 Abdallah Zaâzaâ: "We are heading toward an uprising against the regime" Abdallah Zaâzaâ, a former political prisoner and former member of Ilal Amam, gave an explosive interview to the Catalan-language daily Avui (Today). We have translated what he could. The rest is frankly unpublishable in today's Morocco. If we did publish it, we'd go to jail. So, here are extracts from the interview with Morocco's leading republican. Paco Soto (Avui): What's your assessment of King Mohammed VI's reign so far? Abdallah Zaâzaâ: Overall, I don't think much has changed compared with the past. There has been some progress in freedom of expression, and civil society movements are more important. But the structures of the state haven't changed. They continue to be the same as they were under King Hassan II. It must be said that the popular and democratic movement had managed to obtain a few pockets of freedom long before Mohammed VI became king. Even if there's a long way to go before the rule of law is established in Morocco, don't you think the climate is much more democratic under the new king? I'd say the state had already pulled back in many areas in recent years, long before Mohammed VI became king. Things opened up to a degree, but the trouble is, the changes were not institutionalised. (...) Power is still in the hands of the same sectors, the makhzen and the monarchy. (…) You have always defended and you still defend the model of a republican state. Don't you feel you are preaching in the desert? I am a republican, this is true. But I am ready to reach a compromise with others. I'm not interested in form so much as content. (...) I would like to see the people who rule us have to pass the text of universal suffrage and not leave it to the king to decide. This is a republican principle that also exists in truly parliamentary monarchies. The king of Morocco is untouchable, no one can punish him. Do you think the Spanish example is applicable to Morocco? In theory, yes, but let's wait and see. Anyway, let me tell you something: I think a completely democratic monarchy is unlikely if not impossible. I think it is unlikely in a country of the southern hemisphere, of the South, as mine is, where there are deep social contradictions, enormous inequalities and a government that is not ready to make any sacrifices or share. Nothing at all? Not even for the sake of its own survival and to ensure its future stability? I don't think the government is ready to seek compromises. The government, starting with the monarchy itself, is not going to give up all the wealth stolen from the people. The government in Morocco is not bold enough to participate in democratic change. The people have every right to recover the wealth accumulated by the bourgeoisie and the monarchy. If Mohammed VI is truly a democrat, why doesn't he give back what he stole from the people? (...) Where do you think Morocco is headed today? I think the regime's policies are taking us directly towards an uprising. That's what I think. The technocrats who govern us are paving the way for a generalised, popular revolt. They try to run the country like a business. They have no solutions for the poor strata of the population. They think they can solve problems with police batons. They crack down on street vendors, unemployed graduates and the rest of the working classes. The regime is ready to put tanks on the streets to fire on people. What will the Islamists do in these circumstances? They will do what they always do. They will end up allying with the government as already happened in Hassan II's time. Hassan used the Islamists to limit the influence of the left, and to wipe out the Marxist-Leninists, the radical left. I don't say this is the case for all the Islamists, I'm just referring to part of this movement. For example, the Islamists of the PJD would ally with the regime. The Islamist are influential because they know how to talk to people. They talk about radical change, they talk about problems that interest the population, but they are not a democratic alternative. What do you think of the reformist ideas of Mohammed VI's first cousin, Moulay Hicham, the red prince? I think he is capable of arguing for a series of ideas that favour a debate about the monarchy (...) Moulay Hicham is acting as a public figure. He has stopped acting as a prince. I think that is positive. Will there end up being a solution to the dispute over Western Sahara? I continue to defend the right of the Saharawi to self-determination, as I defend self-determination for all peoples. Even the Moroccan people. As far as I know, the Saharawi have not been allowed to say whether or not they want to remain Moroccan.