 Rabat - Morocco's government banned an independent magazine and took legal action against its editors late on Wednesday for an article listing popular Moroccan jokes about religion, sex and politics.
The Casablanca state prosecutor said the article in Arab-language magazine Nichane represented an attack on Islam and went "against morals and customs", state news agency MAP cited a judicial source as saying.
The prosecutor ordered an investigation into the article and began legal action against the editor Driss Ksikes and reporter Sanaa Al Aji.
Prime Minister Driss Jettou issued an injunction banning the magazine from being distributed, sold or displayed on the street.
Morocco has carried out a programme of liberal reforms since King Mohammed came to power in 1999, and foreign observers say its press is now one of the freest in the Arab world.
Several independent titles regularly test the limits of that freedom in articles that criticise government policy and attack corruption and nepotism.
Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said the Nichane ban was politically motivated.
"These measures ... arise from an electoral calculation ahead of polls which could be marked by a strong rise by the Islamist movement," the group said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Communications Minister Nabil Benabdallah said a new press code planned for next year would eliminate most prison sentences against journalists.
But critics say liberalisation has stalled in recent years on fears it could threaten the Alawite dynasty that has ruled the territory for almost five centuries.
Newspapers remain forbidden from questioning the institution of the monarchy, Morocco's claim over the disputed territory of Western Sahara and the state's role as guardian of Islam.
Heavy fines imposed on editors for defamation have led to accusations that the authorities are still cracking down on newspapers and magazines through the courts.
Last year Ali Lmrabet, a leading critic of the king, was handed a 10-year ban on practising journalism for an article on Western Sahara. In 2003 he was jailed for insulting King Mohammed, but was later pardoned. |
