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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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Iraqi Militias Deploy in Syria to Back Govt Counteroffensive against Opposition Factions

A destroyed Syrian army helicopter sits on the tarmac the Nayrab military airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
A destroyed Syrian army helicopter sits on the tarmac the Nayrab military airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
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Iraqi Militias Deploy in Syria to Back Govt Counteroffensive against Opposition Factions

A destroyed Syrian army helicopter sits on the tarmac the Nayrab military airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)
A destroyed Syrian army helicopter sits on the tarmac the Nayrab military airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on December 2, 2024. (AFP)

Iranian-backed Iraqi militias have deployed in Syria to back the government's counteroffensive against a surprise advance by opposition factions who seized the largest city of Aleppo, a militia official and a war monitor said Monday.

The factions led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a two-pronged attack on Aleppo last week and moved into the countryside around Idlib and neighboring Hama province. Government troops built a fortified defensive line in northern Hama in an attempt to stall the fighters’ momentum while jets on Sunday pounded opposition-held lines.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus Sunday and announced Tehran's full support for his government. He later arrived for talks in Ankara, Türkiye, one of the opposition’s main backers.

“I clearly announced full-fledged support to President Assad, government, army, and people of Syria by the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Araghchi said. He did not further elaborate but Iran has been of Assad's principal political and military supporters and has deployed military advisers and forces after 2011 protests against Assad’s rule turned into an all-out war.

Tehran-backed Iraqi militias already in Syria mobilized and additional forces crossed the border to support Assad's government and army, said the Iraqi militia official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

According to Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, some 200 Iraqi militiamen on pickups crossed into Syria overnight through the strategic al-Boukamal crossing. They were expected to deploy in Aleppo to support the Syrian army’s pushback against the opposition, the monitor said.

Dozens of Iran-aligned Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighters from Iraq also crossed into Syria through a military route near al-Boukamal crossing, a senior Syrian army source told Reuters.

"These are fresh reinforcements being sent to aid our comrades on the front lines in the north," the officer said, adding the militias included Iraq's Katiab Hezbollah and Fatemiyoun groups.

Syrian and Russian airstrikes on opposition positions continued mostly in Hama and Idlib provinces. At least 10 civilians were killed in Idlib city and province, according to the Syrian Civil Defense in opposition-held areas.

Syrian Kurds were fleeing the fighting in large numbers after Turkish-backed opposition fighters seized Tel Rifaat from rival US-backed Kurdish authorities.  

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces largely withdrew and called for a humanitarian corridor to allow people to leave safely in convoys toward Aleppo and later to Kurdish-led northeast regions.