Morocco: RSF condemns circumvention of press law to silence journalist Hamid El Mahdaoui
Hamid El Mahdaoui, director of the news website Badil.info, is due to appear in court today on charges of ‘disseminating false allegations’ and ‘defamation’ under the Criminal Code. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the circumvention of the law on the press and publishing, which should have been applied. This iniquitous procedure must be dropped.
On Monday 14 October 2024, journalist Hamid El Mahdaoui appeared before the Rabat Court of First Instance, following an initial hearing on 9 September 2024. These legal proceedings relating to his journalistic work are worrying. The director of the online news website Badil.info was summoned by the National Judicial Police Brigade following a complaint for defamation lodged by the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi. The complaint related to a video published on 11 July 2023 on the Badil.info website, in which the journalist criticised the minister's actions. However, the Moroccan prosecutor chose to prosecute the journalist under the provisions of the Criminal Code, ignoring the legal framework for the press that should apply in such cases.
“While the recent royal pardon granted to eight journalists — including Taoufik Bouachrine, Omar Radi, and Soulaimane Raissouni — was a promising sign of a new era for press freedom in Morocco, the criminal proceedings brought against journalist Hamid El Mahdaoui mark a step backwards. The decision to circumvent Morocco’s press code is alarming, and RSF condemns this misuse of the justice system to intimidate and silence the press, which must end immediately.
“The trial of Hamid El Mahdaoui is a political trial and, until recently, we thought we had definitively turned the page on this type of trial in our country,” lamented Omar Daoudi, El Mahdaoui's lawyer. “When establishing the charges in this case, the public prosecutor tried to misrepresent the journalistic nature of the situation. They invoked articles from the Criminal Code to circumvent the Press Code’s statute of limitations.”
El Mahdaoui was already arrested in 2017 and prosecuted in 2018 for “failing to report a threat to internal state security”, receiving a three-year prison sentence for his coverage of a peaceful march that had been banned by Moroccan authorities. He was released in July 2020. His outlet, Badil.info, covers issues related to the fight against corruption and economic and social rights
Morocco ranks 129th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index.
