The North Africa Journal: 18 October 2018 – North African governments appear to have zero tolerance toward criticism. Their leaders say they are committed to the advancement of personal freedoms and free speech, but their actions beg the opposite. Egypt may be the most extreme case, a country that now requires hospitals to blast the national anthem every morning, just to remind the Egyptians that authorities are watching. This Orwellian vision of the Arab world reached its peak recently with the killing of US-based Saudi writer and critic of the Saudi regime, Jamal Khashoggi. Mr. Khashoggi may have been lured by the Saudis into a trap inside a diplomatic mission in Istanbul, where he was simply dismembered. Gruesome but not an unusual deed of many of the Arab regimes, who are looking to perform any trick in the book to neutralize dissent and opposition.
Yesterday, the Moroccan authorities pushed the button a bit further, not as far as the Saudis, but far enough to raise real concern about their commitment to allowing the Moroccan people to criticize their leaders without fearing mayhem Soufiane Al-Nguad, a young Moroccan citizen was sentenced to two years in prison for protesting on the web against the death of a young migrant girl, killed in late September by the Moroccan Navy. His lawyer said the Tetouan court sentenced him for… “insulting the national flag, spreading hatred and appealing to the civil insurrection.”
For the authorities, Al-Nguad went too far when on his Facebook page, when he called on football fans before a game to “demonstrate and wear black clothes of mourning” to protest against the death of Hayat Belkacem. Belkacem was killed on 25 September by the Moroccan Navy as she was trying to illegally enter the Spanish coast by boat. Now it appears that the Moroccan authorities have had a zero tolerance policy toward simple, silly and mundane things like “insulting the flag.” Nearly 20 kids were arrested during that football match for a series of offenses, including [once again] “insulting the flag.” The police went excessive too when they arrested fans who brandished Spanish flags.
The case of Soufiane Al-Nguad and of the football fans may not be as drastic as the series of death sentences handed over by Egyptian so-called courts, but they perpetuate the bad practice of repressing free speech that Khashoggi has died for. The Moroccan government has indeed the legitimate right and duty to protect public order and stability. But it also has the obligation to protect free speech, and even enhance it. If citizens find it intolerable that the navy kills innocent citizens, courts have no business in refraining such sentiment. The Moroccan authorities must be stronger than that, and should avoid appearing weak in light of young twenty-somethings sharing their views on Facebook.
