Aljazeera trial postponed, Sidi Ifni rights leader arrested
2008-07-02
The defence team representing Aljazeera bureau chief Hassan Rachidi has been granted additional time to prepare, and rights activist Brahim Sab'alil was arrested after reiterating claims of police abuse in Sidi Ifni.
Naoufel Cherkaoui in Rabat contributed to this report – 02/07/08
 [Naoufel Cherkaoui] The arrest of human rights activist Brahim Sab'alil preceded Aljazeera Rabat bureau chief Hassan Rachidi's request to postpone his trial on charges of disseminating "false information". |
A court of first instance in Rabat decided on Tuesday (July 1st) to postpone until Friday the trial of Hassan Rachidi, Aljazeera's bureau chief in Rabat. The defence made the request to postpone in order to have more time to prepare.
Rachidi faces charges of disseminating "false information" after the Qatar-based television network broadcast reports from Rabat stating that between six and ten people had died in clashes between youths and the police in the port city of Sidi Ifni on June 7th. The authorities denied the deaths.
The decision by Rachidi's defence team to request more time to prepare follows the arrest of Brahim Sab'alil, head of the Sidi Ifni branch of the Moroccan Centre for Human Rights (CMDH).
On Thursday (June 26th), in order to mark World Anti-Torture Day, Sab'alil gave a press conference in Rabat in which he presented the testimony of witnesses claiming that several people were killed during the events of "Black Saturday" and that there were several cases of disappearance and rape at the hands of the security forces. Sab'alil described the public authorities' intervention as "crimes against humanity".
Later that night, "a security force consisting of more than 10 personnel arrested […] Sab'alil from his home," a CMDH statement said. Sab'alil's wife, Khadija Sared, told Al-Jarida al-Oula that the men arrived at 1:30am, saying they were police, but presented no identification or arrest warrant. They took him away to an unknown destination, she added.
"We consider it an arbitrary arrest and a kind of persecution against human rights activists," CMDH President Khalid Cherkaoui Semmouni told Magharebia. "It is natural that those people obtain information, which they convey to the public, and the authorities have to check the correctness of such information."
An investigation by nine parliamentary deputies, including two women, concluded on June 17th that "no death or rape cases were documented" in the Sidi Ifni events.
The Moroccan security authorities have reportedly said that the "arrest of Brahim Sab'alil was made following the press conference in which he made false accusations about the events that took place in Sidi Ifni."
"It's clear that there are some other considerations that led to the arrest of Sab'alil that have nothing to do with what he said in the press conference," concluded Semmouni.
Like the Aljazeera bureau chief, Sab'ali also faces trial this month for spreading "false information".
Mohammed Sadeku, one of Sab'alil's lawyers, said: "In the first hearing, we shall call for a temporary release until we review the lawsuit file. We shall focus on our request to make the court hear the victims. We shall also ask the court to conduct an in-depth investigation into the Sidi Ifni events as crimes against humanity."
International NGO Human Rights Watch has called for the charges against Rachidi and Sab'alil to be dropped, describing the two men's prosecution as "incompatible with Morocco’s commitment to respect freedom of expression, no matter where the ultimate truth lies".
"Authorities should want to find out the truth about the extent of police abuse in Sidi Ifni," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the organisation's Middle East and North Africa director. "They should allow an open discussion about the incident instead of using repressive laws to 'shoot the messenger.'"
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Coronella Keiper Posted 2008-07-02
For two generations after the Nazi horror seemed to be over, quite a few young adults in Germany have committed suicide; research has disclosed that when a young adult would take the time to verify what their parents, or grandparents, said about their own past, and when the young adult would find that their own parent had lied to them, by saying that they personally had not been involved in the inhumanity to others, when the young adult would discover that indeed the parent or the grandparent had been involved, perhaps at a desk job, but involved, then the young adult had to decide what to do: As they look at their own physical body, they see the precious blood of others, which was shed "so that there would be food on the table"; and when they look into their own eyes in the mirror, they realize that they have been reared by psychotic and derainged individuals, and that because they have taken on so many of the parent's characteristics, they cannot be sure but that they themselves are capable of making excuses and acting in such a horrible way; they kill themselves to try and spare the world from the insanity. Whenever evil is done to humans, of course the society must stop the evil, and light is a very good antiseptic. With enough light it is easier, -- perhaps not easy, but easier, -- to solve the problem, whether the problem is a splinter in a child's finger, or even willful inhumanity by some for whatever false reasons. Here is a little piece of light to anyone who murders or rapes and tries to cover it up; and to anyone who tries to still the voices of those whose job is to alert us; and to anyone who willfully spreads false accusations: You are making your own family your enemy, and you need to turn to God and ask Him to change you. Coronella Keiper
hakim Posted 2008-07-03
It is just yet an other obstacle that the governing elite is throwing in the way of the free press. Al jazeera is playing its role perfectly. It challenges by asking the right questions, and it pays attention to the things concerning the ordinaty man/woman. It would be a shame , if they expel al jazeera or put Hassan Rachidi in prison.
acharif moulay abdellah bouskraoui Posted 2008-07-06
There is no need to give too much importance to people who just want to become celebrities in spite of their shortcomings, trying to sow disorder, panic and lies. In the end, in Morocco we have a fair and independent legal system, and only failures would say the opposite. Instead of hiding behind lies, you should respect our justice.
hakim Posted 2008-07-09
I don't know in which Morocco Acharif Moulay ( or whatever he/she may be in real) lives. In any case, the country Morocco that I know, is a one in which the government lies ( according Abbas EL Fassi, nothing happened in SIDI IFNI) to its citizens all the time. Accountability is something that doesn't exist in the moroccan political dictionary. So, I would say to Acharif, don't behave like an ostrich by hiding your head in the sand. Instead, recognise that we have problems, and let us try to solve them, just like all well thinking people do..
omar Posted 2008-07-11
Nice spoken Hakim. I deeply share your point of view.
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