A Moroccan court has fined the country's leading newspaper a whopping 6 million dirhams for mistakenly alleging that a judge had attended a gay wedding party in the Muslim country. Rachid Nini, editor of the daily Al-Massae said the paper would appeal the verdict and expressed concern that the authorities were using the courts to try and shut down a troublesome critic, according to Reuters.
Last November, Al-Massae was the first Moroccan newspaper to publish a report about a party held following an illegal gay wedding in the northern town of Ksar el Kebir. It quoted a police source saying that an unnamed judge in the town attended the party, a sensitive issue in Morocco's mostly conservative society.
Homosexual acts are banned by law and Islamists condemned the gay party as an attack on public morals in Morocco, where court verdicts are pronounced in the name of the king, whose titles include that of "commander of the faithful".
Al-Massae apologised for suggesting a judge was present at the gay party, after its police source informed the paper that the judge had been confused with a person with the same name. The paper did not name the judge in its report and all four Ksar el Kebir judges sued the newspaper for defamation. A Rabat court on Tuesday ordered the newspaper to pay them 1.5 million dirhams each.
Critics say Al-Massae, Morocco's most widely-read newspaper, has run after readers with a populist tone that has come at the expense of accuracy and good sourcing. But the paper's senior jornalist Tawfik Bouechrine alleged that Al-Massae was being punished for its aggressive reporting on corruption and human rights abuses. "This is the first time since Morocco's independence 52 years ago that a court has sentenced a newspaper to such a hefty fine," said Bouechrine told reporters. "The government is hiding behind the court to close the newspaper. It is sending a message to the media that it will not tolerate press freedom," he said.
The president of the Moroccan journalists' union, Younes Moujahid, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he considered the verdict a "death sentence for the newspaper". He said, "If we go on down this road, we'd have to shut down all the papers because the sum of six million dirhams is unreal. The Al Massae paper had already apologised to the plaintiffs."
“We are outraged by the exorbitant size of the damages award,” Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) said. “This is not the first time Morocco’s courts have acted with a heavy hand. Certain recent court rulings have badly hurt leading Moroccan media and could lead to their disappearance. Judges should impose sentences that are proportionate to the damage caused and should ensure that press freedom is not endangered.”
"Anybody who feels offended has a right to go to court," Moujahid declared, "but we call on Moroccan judges to hand down serious and fair rulings."
Nini told RSF that Tuesday's court ruling was “inexplicable and unacceptable” and reflected “a desire to destroy my newspaper and restrict free expression in Morocco.” He intends to appeal. He has 10 days to do so. Nini was the victim of a knife attack outside Rabat’s main railway station on February 3. He told Agence France-Presse at the time that he was surprised that the attack took place while he was being sued.
