convicted a top newspaper editor of discrediting court rulings and publishing information on unproven crimes and sentenced him to a year in prison. The trial and verdict of Rachid Nini, the executive editor of Al-Massae newspaper, outraged Moroccan journalists because it was conducted under the criminal code rather than the media law and is being viewed as an attack on freedom of expression. "It is the beginning of the death of the press code in Morocco, because it is not just about Rachid Nini," his lawyer Khaled Sefiani told The Associated Press. "It is the use of the penal code and arresting journalists by state agencies who want to destroy the press code." In Morocco, legal issues involving the media such as libel are normally tried under the media law, which does not allow for the arrest and imprisonment of journalists. Lacking a specific complaint filed against Nini, however, prosecutors elected to try him under criminal law for "trying to discredit and influence a court and publishing information on crimes that haven't been proven," according to the state-run news agency. "Now we don't need a press code," Sefiani said. "Now we can easily arrest a journalist for what he writes ... it is dangerous for everyone." Nini's columns in one of Morocco's largest and most influential papers regularly attacked powerful members of the elite and the government and published secret documents about their alleged wrongdoings. Nini had run afoul of authorities before and in December 2008 was fined more than $70,000 in a libel trial that some have described as politically motivated. Since the beginning of the year, he had in particular singled out a top security official and the powerful head of a political party close to the king. When their motion to dismiss the trial because it was not using the media law was turned down, Nini's defense attorneys walked out, while the defendant himself refused to answer the prosecution's questions, Sefiani said. Morocco's National Union of Journalists also condemned the verdict and the use of the criminal code in the case. "We call for the release of the head of Al-Massae and to turn the page on this case which comes as the press and all forces in society are awaiting a reform of the press law and abolishing of penalties harming the freedom of publishing," it said in a statement. His lawyer said they would appeal the ruling, which also fined Nini $130. International media watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists, described in its 2010 report a rise in harassment of local media in Morocco over the last few years. It said there was a pattern of court cases against journalists and newspapers publishing material with which the government disagrees. They have also been targeted by officially sanctioned advertising boycotts. "The tactics forced two leading independent weeklies to close and a critical daily newspaper to move online," the organization reported. In January 2010, the independent French language Le Journal Hebdomadaire closed down after being fined $350,000 in a libel case and what its editors described as a boycott on its advertising. In October, the critical Arabic language weekly Nichane ceased publication, also after the withdrawal of its main advertisers. In May 2010, a Casablanca daily opted to move its operations on line for similar reasons. In remarks to CPJ, Morocco's Communications Minister Khalid Naciri maintained that "press freedom is one of the cornerstones of our policy."
