Al-Watan al-An convictions undermine Morocco's press code

2007-09-23

The sentencing of al-Watan al-An journalist Moustapha Hormatallah and Editor-in-Chief Abderrahim Ariri for publishing confidential intelligence documents raises questions about the relevance of Morocco's press law.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 23/09/2007

[Naoufel Cherkaoui] Ariri expressed surprise at the appeals court's decision.

In a conversation with Magharebia, al-Watan al-An Editor-in-Chief Abderrahim Ariri expressed his dissatisfaction with a Casablanca appeals court's September 18th decision to uphold convictions – although with reduced sentences – against him and journalist Moustapha Hormatallah. Rather than use the press code, the authorities brought criminal charges against the two journalists.

A Casablanca appeals court handed Ariri a five-month suspended prison sentence and Moustapha Hormatallah a seven-month prison sentence on Tuesday (September 18th) for publishing classified government documents. The sentences are a reduction of those handed down by the primary court on August 15th, although the 1,000-dirham fine was upheld.

"We were surprised," said Ariri, "because we were expecting an acquittal in view of the positive indication shown by fulfilling our request for the provisional release of my colleague Hormatallah… We were hoping the court would do the right thing and correct the mistake that has been made in our file. Unfortunately, the court upheld its word, but it will never deter us from doing our duty."

"The judgment that I will now seek is God's judgment and the judgment of the people," Ariri added. "It is more secure for me. I'll keep away from all that is judicial and be concerned with all that is professional."

Ariri said that his publishing of the confidential security documents "embarrassed the authorities." He also said: "The authorities' purpose was to silence our newspaper, and they weren't able to do so except through filing their action under criminal law rather than press law."

Speaking on the possibility of challenging the decision, Ariri said: "The lawyers will make the necessary arrangements for appealing the ruling against Hormatallah. As for me, I have surrendered myself to God."

According to one of the defendants' lawyers, Idrissi al-Hassani, Hormatallah has 10 days to appeal the decision. "We expect a lot of good from the Highest Court of Appeals," said al-Hassani. "We hope that it will courageously issue a decision that corrects the wrong path the primary court and the court of appeals adopted, and thus set things right."

The Highest Court of Appeals will require several months to a year to make a final ruling, the lawyer added.

Al-Hassani said he did not expect the effective prison sentence against Hormatallah to be upheld. "We consider the prosecution of the two journalists a gross legal mistake," he told Magharebia.

"We tried to explain this in our plea," he said, and "the ruling has maimed the image of our judicial system because it lacked the necessary courage to correct the gross mistake committed by the prosecution in pursuing Ariri and Hormatallah."

Al-Hassani continued, "In principle, we can request another appeal which we will discuss with the journalists in order to defend two principles of the journalistic profession: the right not to reveal the source of the news and the right to reach the news wherever it is regardless of its relation to national defence secrets."

Ariri and Hormatallah's supporters echo the lawyer's sentiments. Secretary-General of the Moroccan National Press Union Younes M'jahed said there were no legal grounds for the two journalists to be tried under criminal law, and that the authorities' legal action was a very serious error that raises the question once again about the extent of independence in Morocco's judicial system.

The Moroccan Association for Human Rights also denounced the appeal court's decision. Chairperson Khadiga El Raydi told Magharebia, "We express our rejection of the ruling, whether it is suspended or effective, because it is an unjust and unacceptable ruling against any journalist… The prosecution was not able to prove the charges against them."

El Raydi added, "There will not be any guarantees for Moroccan journalists if they can be tried outside the press law."

In a statement to Magharebia, Mustapha Chafai, Co-ordinator of the Moroccan Observatory for Public Freedoms said "We, in the observatory, stress the need to cancel all deleterious penalties to freedom with regards to journalists." He added, "The possibility of a journalist committing violations is there, but the norms used in judging whether a certain article includes violations or not are more important. Since these norms are loose, the final word stays with the administrative authorities."