Journalists fined over Islam joke

[mancroft]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6262919.stm

"A court in Casablanca has given two Moroccan journalists suspended sentences of three years for defaming Islam and breaching public morality."

Hey, Stoned_Rider, do you know any good Actress and Imam jokes?

[Stoned_Rider]

umm.. how did the actress break the Imam's heart? She dressed like a tart.

I was going to post about this sometime ago actually. Nichane/Telquel (http://www.telquel-online.com/196/sujet4.shtml) are magazines that Morocco should really be proud of. They do a great job in tackling some of Morocco's most sensitive and taboo issues such as the Sahara, the King, and Islam/Islamism in a way that is unprecedented for any other Arab country.

I've heard people say that this was mainly a political move. Islamist parties have already seized this opportunity to talk about how Morocco is becoming immoral, and how Islamism is the only way forward in the face of western influence. Sadly, people agree with them. I am not exaggerating when I say that every single person I have discussed this with, was totally in favour of banning the journalists. I think this move was made by the government in order not to alienate the people further (thus increasing the support for the Islamists)... especially with the general elections being very close.

Yes, really tense times over here in Morocco. Things are fucked up. It's looking good for the Islamists, bad for everyone else.


Driss Ksikes said that laughter told us a lot about what made a society tick.

It revealed its neuroses, its fears and its aspirations.

Besides, he said, Morocco was a funny place.

It was at this point that something changed in the atmosphere of the court room: grim looking security guards leaned forward with a glint in their eyes, the previously bored clerks looked up from their files, and the judge himself could not suppress his own laughter.

The room suddenly seemed a lot lighter and less imposing.

The journalists had let the laughter back in.

But the prosecuting lawyer did not see the funny side.

He curbed the laughter with a voice that boomed off the wooden walls and concrete ceiling.

He reminded the court that there must be limits to freedom of speech, that some things are better left unsaid.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6256131.stm