DAS CARPENTER DISCUSSES FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RABAT 000996

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/30/2010
TAGS: PHUM KDEM PGOV PREL MO
SUBJECT: DAS CARPENTER DISCUSSES FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION WITH
GOM, PROMINENT MEDIA FIGURES

Classified By: Classified by DCM Wayne Bush for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
.


1. (C) Summary: Moroccan Minister of Communications
Benabdellah told visiting DAS Carpenter during a June 6
meeting that the latest and presumably final draft of the
revised press code reduced from 24 to four the number of
categories of offenses that could land journalists in jail.
He emphasized that Morocco had sent no journalists to jail
recently. He also noted that the new law provided for an
arbitration council intended to minimize the number of
defamation cases referred to civil courts. Separately, two
of Morocco's most prominent journalists expressed wariness of
the government's intentions while recognizing that the
Moroccan press is probably the freest in the Arab World. The
publisher of Morocco's leading weekly newsmagazine assessed
that the problem was neither the legal framework (which was
regularly circumvented in practice),nor freedom of
expression, but the inability of the Moroccan press to create
pressure for action by Morocco,s governmental institutions.
End Summary.

-------------- --------------
Minister Says Draft Press Law Progressive - Tones Down
Penalties
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Press freedom and elections (septel) were the twin
focal points of DAS Carpenter's June 4-6 visit to Morocco.
During his call on Minister of Communications Nabil
Benabdellah on the evening of June 6, DAS Carpenter expressed
concern over reports that the bill revising Morocco's press
code might represent a step backward for the country by
imposing new restrictions and jailable offenses on
journalists. Benabdellah responded that he had just
completed work on the latest and "final" version of the bill
in the past few days. The Minister noted that the bill
contains a number of provisions intended to help the press
sector shore up its shaky financial position and adapt to
changing market models. (Note: press reports indicate that
the latest draft has been provided to the Moroccan Federation
of Publishers -- FMEJ -- and the Moroccan Press Union, for
review. End note.)


3. (C) While the bill has gone through many versions in
recent months, the final draft, according to Benabdellah,
actually reduced from 24 to four the number of categories of
offenses that could send Moroccan journalists to jail. The
four categories were (1) publication of pedophilic material;
(2) incitement of the military to mutiny; (3) racial or
religious incitement; and (4) undermining the country's
territorial integrity (read promoting separatist claims on
Western Sahara). These areas were considered core national
security issues, the Minister emphasized. Benabdellah added
that no journalists have been jailed recently, asserting that
the Government had bent over backwards to avoid jailing two
journalists recently fined for writing an article deemed
offensive to Islam.


4. (C) DAS Carpenter welcomed news of the narrower scope of
jailable offenses but noted the number of prominent cases in
which huge civil penalties were imposed on journalists,
raising concerns that such cases were having the effect of
silencing journalists who push the envelope with
controversial reporting. Benabdellah said that the new bill
text imposed reasonable parameters for fines and civil
penalties (but it was not clear that they would be applicable
to all cases). Benabdellah further noted that the draft
provided for the establishment of a council that could
arbitrate cases of defamation (which he stressed is not
criminalized in Morocco),hopefully reducing the number of
civil cases that actually go to court.

--------------
Leading Journalists Skeptical, Philosophical
--------------


5. (C) DAS Carpenter also met during his visit with two of
the leading personalities in Moroccan journalism -
Abdelmouneim Dilami, director of Eco Medias Group, the
largest independent media conglomerate in Morocco; and Ahmed
Benchamsi, Director of Telquel, Morocco's leading weekly
newsmagazine, and Nichane, its Arabic-language sister
publication. Each expressed wariness of the government's
motives. Dilami, who represented Moroccan Publishers in
consultations with the GOM as the bill was being prepared,
complained that the GOM had broken faith with the Moroccan
media by producing a draft that was far more restrictive than
the principles previously agreed. (Comment: Dilami's views

RABAT 00000996 002 OF 002


were most likely based on the draft press code circulated in
March. End comment.)


6. (C) Benchamsi, whose weekly newsmagazine Telquel has a
well-earned reputation for pushing the envelope with its
coverage of controversial topics, said he was less concerned
about the press law. "We have always broken the law and we
always will break the law, it doesn't matter," he stated. As
an example he noted that the press code forbids foreign
ownership of Moroccan media, while French investors own a
majority stake in Telquel, and Saudi investors own a majority
in Le Matin, the daily generally seen as a mouthpiece for the
Palace.


7. (C) "The problem in Morocco is not the lack of freedom of
expression, we have the freedom," Benchamsi stressed,
pointing to Telquel's cover story this week alleging a
corrupt real estate deal conducted between the King's private
secretary and the Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The problem

SIPDIS
in Morocco is that freedom of the press doesn't matter: The
press, through its stories, is not able to advance the reform
agenda, he maintained. This is due to an unsophisticated
public and an underdeveloped political culture. "When we
published the story about Majidi (the King's secretary)" his
question was 'why are you conspiring against me?' rather than
asking 'have I done something wrong?'"

******************************************
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website;
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat
******************************************

RILEY