The weekly Le Journal Hebdomadaire has accused Moroccan authorities of orchestrating protests against it for publishing a photograph of a French newspaper showing a cartoon of Prophet Mohammed. The Casablanca-based newspaper said in a statement that for two days this week protesters have demonstrated against it and that two state-run television stations have accused it of blasphemy.
Le Journal publisher Aboubakr Jamai told CPJ that on February 11 the newspaper published an Agence France-Presse photograph showing a reader holding the edition of the Paris daily France Soir which reproduced the Danish cartoons of the prophet. The cartoons were barely visible but to avoid controversy Le Journal inked out the cartoon.
Le Journal published the photograph as part of a 10-page chronology of events that followed the publication of the drawings in Jyllands-Posten. The Danish daily published 12 cartoons of Mohammed on September 30, 2005 sparking furore in the Muslim world where depictions of the prophet are considered by many to be blasphemous. One drawing showed Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse.
"We are alarmed that state-run media are publicly attacking this newspaper," said Ann Cooper, Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). "We are gravely concerned about the safety of Le Journal's staff, and call on the government to take steps to ensure their security."
Le Journal issued a detailed statement Tuesday about the protests and television coverage. It said state-run television stations 2M and TVM broadcast footage of hundreds of demonstrators shouting slogans against Le Journal on Monday outside Parliament. 2M accused the newspaper of "running against public opinion by taking up positions against the sacred values of our country."
