In a notable development in the crisis facing press self-regulation in Morocco, the Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Publishers issued today, Sunday, a strongly-worded statement in which it expressed “shock and dismay” at the content of the leaked video of a meeting of the Disciplinary and Professional Ethics Committee affiliated with the Temporary Committee of the National Press Council, published by the “Badil” website led by colleague Hamid Mahdaoui.
The Federation described what the recording revealed as an “ethical and human rights massacre” against independent journalism and against the principle of self-regulation itself, confirming that the language used and the retaliatory thinking that appeared in the deliberations reveal an “unprecedented cognitive emptiness and ethical and legal collapse.”
Long Series of “Organized Conspiracy”
The statement confirmed that what happened is not an isolated act, but rather a link in a systematic plan that began with “managing the split” within the Publishers’ Association and attempting to “sentence to death” the Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Publishers, which has defended press freedom and independence for more than two decades.
It pointed to a series of violations including:
- Excluding the Federation from all dialogue or consultation despite legal texts.
- Pressuring its members by various means.
- Refusing to hold elections for the National Press Council after its term ended.
- Extending the work of a temporary committee for two years while excluding two committees headed by two elected members from the Federation.
- The Prime Minister appointing two members from the competing association to unify the temporary committee’s voice.
- Forming the public support committee with only four members from the same side.
- Monopolizing the chairmanship of journalism award committees for three consecutive years.
- Targeting sports journalism associations and managing football coverage accreditations by the same body.
Seven Urgent Demands
The Federation demanded in its statement the following:
- Strong condemnation of the “baseness of language” and “retaliatory thinking” that appeared in the video, and what affected the dignity and legal rights of colleague Hamid Mahdaoui.
- Opening an urgent judicial investigation into the circumstances of the case and the entire record of the temporary committee, with arranging legal sanctions and informing public opinion of the results.
- Suspending the legislative process for the draft law reorganizing the National Press Council in the Council of Advisors, and finding an administrative and legal solution to fill the vacuum through serious dialogue with genuine professional organizations.
- Confirming that the legal mandate of the temporary committee ended at the beginning of last October, and considering its continuation an assault on law and the institutional state.
- Emphasizing that legal responsibility for protecting the confidentiality of deliberations rests primarily with the temporary committee, not with whoever leaked the video.
- Immediate halt to the entire “takeover plan” literally mentioned in the recording, whether related to the Council law, the public support system, or sports journalism accreditations, and considering the temporary committee expired and all its decisions null and void.
- Considering this crisis a historic opportunity to save the sector from “heist” and from liquidating free national and regional journalism, and restoring its role as a lung for democracy instead of turning it into a tool for personal purposes.
The Federation concluded its statement by saying that what happened is “painful and affecting” to the image of Moroccan media, but at the same time it is a “golden opportunity” to save independent journalism and rebuild genuine self-regulation that respects law and professional ethics.
Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Publishers
Executive Bureau
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