Morocco

Mohammed VI's tenth year - what do Moroccans make of him?

Sophie Team Observers — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:07:03 +0200

Image posted on Baraka.

It's ten years since King Mohammed VI took the reigns of the Moroccan monarchy. Two of our Moroccan Observers comment on his time in power so far.

Morocco’s gays come out of the shadows

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 16:46:49 +0100

Going against the advice of the authorities, a Moroccan association is organising a conference on homosexuality in Marrakesh.

Moroccan society might be on the move, but the government is finding it hard to follow. In February a French feminist NGO called Ni Putes Ni Soumises (Neither Whores Nor Submissive) was banned from setting up a branch in the country, causing outrage amongst activists. Today, it's a homosexual association that's in trouble. Members of "Kifkif" (which literally means "same same" in both Arabic and in French slang), are attempting to get homosexuality recognised in Moroccan society. The organisation, based in Spain, is planning a conference in Marrakesh on April 15. In response, the minister of the interior has sworn to fight all acts which "aim to undermine our religious and moral values", adding that the authorities and the police will be on watch to repress any "demonstration of an immoral nature".

Kifkif however plans to go ahead with the conference... even if it has to take place behind closed doors.

UPDATE (27 March 09 - 4pm Paris time): The Kifkif website has been hacked. The homepage has been replaced by verses from the Koran, accompanied with a photo of a mass hanging. The message in Arabic: "Do this kind of thing and expect to be castigated by god".

Homeless in Beni Mellal left for dead – literally

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:56:48 +0100

A freakish cold spell in the Moroccan town of Beni Mellal has already killed at least ten people this year. Our Observer there condemns the inaction of the public authorities.

Jailed for liking FC Barcelona more than the king

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:56:07 +0100

Yassine Belassal (right) and his father, Mohamed Belassal.

For replacing "God, The Nation, The King" with "God, The Nation, Barcelona" on the blackboard at school, a Moroccan football fan was condemned to 18 months in prison. His father tells us that after calling for an appeal, his son has now been released on bail but faces retrial on November 5.

Yassine Belassal risked paying a high price for his passion for FC Barcelona. The 18-year-old student thought it would be funny to rub out the end of the country's national slogan "Allah, Al Watan, Al Malik", (God, The Nation, The King) and replace it with "Barca" (God, The Nation, Barcelona); his favourite football club. His teacher didn't find it quite so funny. Reported and then arrested, Yassine was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment in a closed jail for insulting the king. On Wednesday, his father, Mohamed Belassal, told us that his son had managed to win the right to appeal and was to be released on bail until November 5. Until then, human rights groups, the Moroccan blogosphere, and even FC Barcelona, are campaigning for his acquittal.

Amateur video of a beating

Ségolène Team Observers — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:41:19 +0200

The harbour of Sidi Ifni, in southern Morocco, was once again blocked by citizens on strike last Monday. This video, sent by one of our Moroccan observers, seems to show that the strike was broken up in a particularly brutal way.

According to local media sources, around 300 people had gathered to block the harbour, demanding the release of their co-citizens who were arrested during previous demonstrations. Strikes held in early June turned violent after police attempted to break them up. The atmosphere at Sidi Ifni has been tense for months, its citizens accusing the government of voluntarily reigning in the economic development of their city.

The Moroccan media usually stick to the police and government's official declarations, which is that violent incidents stem only from "a few troublemakers". Online, however, locals have criticized the brutality of police repression. Local web surfers use YouTube to broadcast videos of the conflicts. This type of image is scarce because the city, far from Marocco's economic hot spots, is hardly ever covered by foreign media.

Moroccans gang together for the release of the "Facebook prisoner"

Julien — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:12:36 +0100

Fouad Mourtada got three years in a maximum security prison for creating a fake Facebook profile page for a member of the Moroccan royal family. Now, web-users all over the world are ganging together to get Fouad out of prison.

The 26-year-old Moroccan IT engineer created a profile in the name of Prince Moulay Rachid (the brother of Mohamed VI, king of Morocco). The offence led to his sudden street arrest on Feb 5. After weeks in custody, where his family says he was tortured, he went to trial in Casablanca. He explained that he created the fake profile in admiration for the prince, and with no malicious intentions. However, the court wanted to "make an example" of Mourtada, and they condemned him, at the end of February, to three years in a maximum security prison for the "usurpation of identity".

Since Mourtada was put behind bars outrage among the Moroccan public and on the international blogosphere has only escalated. Young people in particular cannot understand why a harmless joke led to such a severe sentence. Last Saturday demonstrators in Morocco and across Europe marched to demand the release of the Facebook prisoner.

"Sniper" catches sweetener on film

Julien — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:35:54 +0100

These images were taken at the frontier post between Nador (northeastern Morocco) and the Spanish enclave of Melilla. According to the web-user who posted the video, police accept backhanders in return for a less-than-thorough check. The video was posted by “Sniper Nador”, probably named in honour of “Sniper Tarjist”, who posted a similar video last summer. We see a motorist slip something into a policeman's hand, although we can’t make out what. But one thing’s for sure: the Moroccan blogosphere will be taken up with this new fad of being a “sniper”.

Our Observers follow the African Cup of Nations

Julien — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:32:58 +0100

The African Cup of Nations (CAN), which kicked off its 26th yearly edition on Sunday, is followed worldwide and rivals the UEFA Euro competition and the Copa America in popularity. The atmosphere is, of course, heating up most in Africa’s major cities, from where our Observers will be sending us post-match updates with photos and comments. Here are comments and predictions from Abidjan, Casablanca, Cotonou and Accra.

The Tecktonik dance craze sweeps Morocco

Julien — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:08:00 +0100

For more than a year the French streets and metro stations have been invaded by ‘tecktonik’ dancers. Born out of a mix of electro and hip-hop moves in a suburban nightclub, the dance has now found its way onto the shores of Morocco. Young Moroccans haven’t only adopted the popping and locking dance-moves, they’ve also taken on the ‘Nu Rave’ style clothing and futuristic hair cuts to match. Not quite fitting with traditional Moroccan culture, the wave hasn’t gone down quite so well with older generations.

Gay witch-hunt in Ksar el Kébir

Julien — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:45:00 +0100

Rumours of a supposedly gay marriage, reported by the local press, lead to a modern-day witch-hunt in Ksar el Kébir, Morocco. At the heart of the scandal is a private party that took place at the end of last month. The organiser, according to the minister of interior, wanted to ‘act out a fantasy in which a woman asks him to dress like her and offer a present to saint Sayad Al Madloum'. It was the images below, shot at the party and posted on YouTube, that really stirred up the trouble. Thousands of Ksar el Kébir residents took to the streets to protest against the offence, clapping and chanting homophobic slogans. On 10 December, the party organiser was charged for ‘sexual perversion' and the ‘illegal sale of alcohol'. He was sentenced to ten months in jail.