Update: Moroccan Blogger Mohammed Erraji has been acquitted by appeals court and is now free:
Mohamed Erraji is Free
Thursday September 18th. The court of appeals in Agadir has overturned the decision by the court of first instance and has decided to abandon all charges against blogger Mohamed Erraji.
On behalf of his family and friends, we thank all those who stood by them during these difficult times. Without your support this positive outcome might not have been possible. Thank you very much, thank you for everything!
This morning, it was reported by the electronic news site Hespress [ar] that blogger Mohammed Raji was arrested in his home in Agadir. An article that Raji had posted on Hespress [ar] is said to be the source of the conflict, though neither that fact nor Raji's arrest have been confirmed outside of the blogosphere.
Morocco's often-critized press law prohibits criticizing of the monarchy; In Raji's article, which has been translated here by Amira al Hussaini, he claims that the King's charity toward his people encourages them to remain helpless rather than work hard. His concluding paragraph reads:
وعندما يرى ولي العهد الصغير الذي سيتولى الحكم في يوم من الأيام كيف أن والده يوزع الهبات والاكراميات والكريمات على الناس بمجرد سماع كلمة إطراء أو مدح ، فلا شك أنه سيتصرف بنفس “المنطق” عندما يحكم ، لذلك فما علينا سوى أن نؤجل أحلامنا بمغرب المساواة وتكافؤ الفرص لغاية حكم الملك محمد السابع الذي سيأتي بعد الحسن الثالث اللي هو ولي العهد حاليا!
A Moroccan About the World Around Him explains the context of the article, saying:
Mohamed’s article, written in Arabic and titled “The King Indulges His Subjects’ dependency,” dealt with the concept of what Moroccans colloquially call “GRIMA”, from the French word “agrément” meaning “an administrative authorization.” Giving ”administrative authorizations” has been a long standing royal tradition in Morocco. Needless to say, such authorizations allow the beneficiary to bypass all set administrative procedures; they discredit all laws and regulations designed to regulate such procedures. But the concept is so ingrained in the Moroccan psyche that you often here Moroccans from all walks of life pray: “May Allah give us a “GRIMA” from Sidna.”
Other bloggers, including A Moroccan in Washington, D.C., zalamite, and Larbi [fr] have covered the story as well.
Hespress has reported that Raji has already been given an expedited hearing and judgement and was sentenced to 2 years in jail as well as fined MAD 5,000 (USD $625). Larbi explains:
Dans un jugement expéditif digne des pays les plus totalitaires au monde, le Tribunal d’Agadir a condamné ce lundi le bloggeur marocain Mohamed Erraji à deux ans de prison ferme et 5000 Dhs d’amendes pour « manquement au respect dû au roi ».
A petition for Mohammed Raji's freedom has already been posted here and a Facebook group has been created.
[...] information on this story is available on Global Voices Advocacy. A petition is also available here for those interested to sign and call for the bloggers [...]
posted on September 8th, 2008 at 8:22 pm - #11406[...] « Morocco: Blogger Arrested, Sentenced Immediately [...]
posted on September 9th, 2008 at 10:01 am - #11459[...] ses liens supposés avec les services algériens), mounir (ici et ici), Larbi (ici, ici et ici), Jillian York, Reda par deux fois, une marocaine, Rachid Jankari (qui est catégorique: Internet est mort au [...]
posted on September 9th, 2008 at 1:23 pm - #11475This is completely unnecessary of the Moroccan authorities (to say the least). Thank you for providing us with a translation of what he wrote on his blog. From the translation I can see the Raji is a true patriot of Morocco. Ironically, by arresting and jailing him they prove the point he was making in his post. When will they learn you can not silence the truth for long.
posted on September 9th, 2008 at 1:43 pm - #11478[...] informações sobre esta história estáo disponíveis no Global Voices Advocacy [En] e aqui também [En]. Uma petição pela libertação do blogueiro está disponível aqui [En], [...]
posted on September 10th, 2008 at 8:35 am - #11572[...] may have been following through the DigiActive Twitter Feed, Moroccan blogger Mohammed Erraji was arrested last Friday, September 5th following the publication on the online news site Hespress.com of an [...]
posted on September 12th, 2008 at 8:13 am - #11756[...] Global Voice Advox Blog & [...]
posted on September 12th, 2008 at 11:15 am - #11780[...] may have been following through the DigiActive Twitter Feed, Moroccan blogger Mohammed Erraji was arrested last Friday, September 5th following the publication on the online news site Hespress.com of an [...]
posted on September 13th, 2008 at 11:14 am - #11829[...] semana en Marruecos, el blogger Mohammed Erraji fue detenido, condenado y sentenciado a dos años de prisión por supuestamente “criticar la política del rey”, según un grupo en Facebook creado [...]
posted on September 18th, 2008 at 9:38 am - #12278[...] Blogger Mohammed Erraji has been acquitted by appeals court and is now free. Posted by Sami Ben Gharbia Print [...]
posted on September 18th, 2008 at 2:57 pm - #12302[...] the many similarities to Thailand’s. Bottom line: Do you really think the King needs protection?!?] Morocco: Blogger Arrested, Sentenced Immediately Jillian York Global Voices Advocacy: September 8, [...]
posted on September 22nd, 2008 at 8:21 am - #12644