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Morocco: Arrest of Journalist in Ethical Case Sparks Controversy

Photo from Hajar Raissouni's Facebook Page
Photo from Hajar Raissouni's Facebook Page
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Morocco: Arrest of Journalist in Ethical Case Sparks Controversy

Photo from Hajar Raissouni's Facebook Page
Photo from Hajar Raissouni's Facebook Page

The National Union of Moroccan Press (NUMP) deplored Wednesday the defamation campaign against a Moroccan journalist who was arrested in an ethical case, which sparked controversy in Morocco.

NUMP, in a statement, said some media platforms are disrespecting the profession’s ethics, and called for combating such practices.

Hajar Raissouni, a journalist for Akhbar Al Yaoum newspaper, was arrested on Saturday on charges of illegal abortion.

According to Alyaoum24 website, an online media company owned by Akhbar Al Yaoum, Raissouni was arrested as she left the gynecological clinic accompanied by her Sudanese fiance. The doctor and two of his assistants were detained.

They were all placed in custody until trial next Monday. They are facing charges of corruption, abortion, and contributing to an abortion.

Raissouni denied the charges while the doctor following her case said before the examining magistrate that the journalist came to his clinic in a critical condition, Alyaoum24 reported. She was bleeding and required urgent surgical intervention, added the doctor.

The website, further, published what it claimed to be a medical report for Raissouni during the pre-trial detention and the report proves that she didn’t undergo an abortion. Some media platforms spoke about circumvention in the report's results.

Activists and politicians reacted to the news, launching a hashtag demanding her release. Some said that she was arrested because of her writings, especially that she works for Akhbar Al Yaoum and Alyaoum24, owned by Taoufik Bouachrine who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for human trafficking and sexual assault.

Among these victims are journalists who used to work at his institution.

However, Bouachrine and those sympathizing with him insist that he was prosecuted because of his writings and his anti-government political stances.

Some activists expressed solidarity with Raissouni for what she is undergoing from defamation and privacy violation.

The Moroccan League for Citizenship and Human Rights (LMCDH) criticized the defamation campaigns targeting the staff of Akhbar Al Yaoum and Alyaoum24, and demanded to form a national front to face these violations against opinion writers.

In a statement, LMCDH considered that arresting Raissouni is part of this campaign.

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Arab World

Sudanese Stakeholders Hold Roundtable Talks in Geneva

A previous meeting of the coordination of Tagadum with the officials of the African Mechanism in Addis Ababa. (Tagadum on Facebook)
A previous meeting of the coordination of Tagadum with the officials of the African Mechanism in Addis Ababa. (Tagadum on Facebook)
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Sudanese Stakeholders Hold Roundtable Talks in Geneva

A previous meeting of the coordination of Tagadum with the officials of the African Mechanism in Addis Ababa. (Tagadum on Facebook)
A previous meeting of the coordination of Tagadum with the officials of the African Mechanism in Addis Ababa. (Tagadum on Facebook)

Geneva has hosted a third “roundtable” of meetings involving Sudanese political and civil groups aimed at bridging the gap between the country’s warring parties. These talks, coordinated by the French organization Promediation, follow similar meetings held previously in Cairo and Geneva. The primary goals are to negotiate a ceasefire and facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians.

The two-day meetings, which began on Monday, include representatives from the Coordination of Democratic Civil Forces (Tagadum), the pro-army Democratic Bloc coalition, and armed movements aligned with the bloc. However, some groups have announced their boycott of the meetings.

The Democratic Bloc has shown conflicting stances on attending the Geneva talks. Mohammed Zakaria, spokesperson for the bloc and a member of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), announced his group’s decision not to participate.

Omar Khalafallah, a leader in the Democratic Unionist Party and another bloc spokesperson, refuted Zakaria’s statement, insisting that the bloc would attend the meetings to promote a national vision.

A source within the Democratic Bloc told Asharq Al-Awsat that the meetings revealed significant internal divisions in the coalition. The JEM, led by current Finance Minister Jibril Ibrahim, appears to be charting its own course, which the source described as a form of defection.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Sharif Mohammed Osman, a leader in Tagadum and the political secretary of the Sudanese Congress Party, explained that the meetings seek to achieve consensus on ending the war through negotiated solutions, starting with a humanitarian truce to ensure aid delivery and the opening of safe corridors.

These measures are considered preliminary steps toward a ceasefire and a peaceful resolution to the conflict, he underlined.

A wide array of civilian leaders are participating in the talks, including key figures from Tagadum, such as Sudanese Congress Party leader Omar Al-Dukair, Federal Gathering Party leader Babiker Faisal, and head of the Sudan Liberation Movement – Transitional Council Al-Hadi Idris.

Osman expressed optimism that the participants would issue a unified final statement addressing the peaceful resolution of the war and agreeing on a humanitarian truce to facilitate aid delivery.

In October, Cairo hosted a similar meeting, which resulted in a final statement signed by the participating groups, except for the Sudan Liberation Movement – Minni Minnawi faction and the JEM – Jibril Ibrahim faction, which refused to endorse the Cairo declaration despite attending the discussions.

Promediation, a French organization supported by the French and Swiss foreign ministries, has played a consistent role in Sudanese affairs. Since June 2022, it has organized roundtable discussions, initially focusing on negotiations between Darfuri armed movements before expanding its scope to include Sudanese political and civil forces in the wake of the war.