Morocco: Prosecution of Independent Newsweeklies Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication 8 May 2006 Date Human Rights Watch, Morocco: Prosecution of Independent Newsweeklies, 8 May Cite as 2006, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/44c7640b4.html [accessed 17 August 2019] A series of prosecutions of independent weeklies, the most outspoken and critical sector of the Moroccan news media, show the continuing limits on press freedom in that country. The courts over the past year have convicted at least four weeklies, or Comments their journalists, on criminal charges of libel, publishing "false news," or "insulting" a foreign head of state, and are trying a fifth for "undermining" the institution of the monarchy. This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author Disclaimer or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. Introduction A series of prosecutions of independent weeklies, the most outspoken and critical sector of the Moroccan news media, show the continuing limits on press freedom in that country. The courts over the past year have convicted at least four weeklies, or their journalists, on criminal charges of libel, publishing "false news," or "insulting" a foreign head of state, and are trying a fifth for "undermining" the institution of the monarchy. One weekly, Le Journal Hebdomadaire ("The Weekly Journal," French-language, hereinafter Le Journal), may be forced to close if it is forced to pay the record 3.1 million dirham1 judgment against it that an appeals court confirmed on April 18. There is, furthermore, evidence that authorities orchestrated street demonstrations in February against Le Journal. These demonstrations added a newly menacing tone to government pressure on the independent press, as did the state television's one-sided, uncritical coverage of those protests. In the past fifteen years, Moroccan media have enjoyed growing freedom to cover sensitive issues, including human rights, social and economic problems, and corruption. Independent weeklies, and to a lesser extent certain dailies, have tested the limits of this new freedom both in their editorial tone and through investigative reporting. They are among the most outspoken media in the Middle East and North Africa, outside Israel.