Casablanca court rejects provisional release of Moroccan journalist
01/08/2007
 [File] Ariri |
A court in Casablanca denied Tuesday (July 31st) requests for the provisional release of Al Watan Al An journalist Mustapha Hormatallah in order to prepare better his defence, MAP reports. The court also adjourned until Thursday. Editor-in-Chief Abderrahim Ariri and Hormatallah have been charged with "possession of stolen material" under Article 571 of the criminal code and are on trial for publishing classified information. The two men were arrested on July 17th after publishing a report on Morocco's state of maximum alert, including copies of classified Moroccan intelligence documents which discuss warnings of imminent terrorist operations in the country. Ariri was provisionally released, but Hormatallah's detention has continued. In the same case, the military trial of eight officers, including an ex-colonel, will begin Thursday.
comments
acharif moulay abdellah bouskraoui Posted 2007-08-03
May Praise be to God Alone Morocco is like any sovereign state: like all democratic countries, it must protect its security secrets, especially given the accentuated threat of terrorism in the region. Thus prudence and vigilance have priority. As for the halting in force of journalists, this is in accordance with the law and they are treated well and respected. However, investigations are needed to find out who necessarily must to be banned for the security of the country. Journalists in Morocco possess great liberty and I personally hope that they will be a part of Morocco’s development by solidifying the peoples’ hope rather than blackening and destroying all efforts. And the goal of the investigation should not be to find the journalists, but the sources divulging the secrets. And, since the journalists have confirmed that they are incapable of being civil enough to know where the realm of security secrecy starts and finishes: this should all be to their advantage. But, things as they are, I hope that Journalists will be active in impartial way and will put the security and reputation of their country before their “scoops.” Morocco has made progress and a great step towards development thanks to King Mohammed VI. –Signed, Acharif Moulay Abdellah Bouskraoui.
Abou ilias Posted 2007-08-24
I am sure, Acharif, that you did not read the article in question: the idiots in the police stations and prefectures are the only ones in the world that would call documents published by weekly al-Watan state secrets. In short, you are a flunky. Stop with your hypocrisy towards the king; he can't possibly like monkeys.