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Ahmed Sheikh said that the Arabic channel I haven’t done anything wrong |
Al Jazeera Arabic’s Moroccan bureau chief, Hassan Rashidi, is to stand trial on charges of broadcasting false information when the station reported on protests in the city of Sidi Ifni.
Citing Moroccan human rights groups, the channel reported that demonstrations over poverty and unemployment took place in the southwestern city on June 7, resulting in deaths in clashes with police.
Rashidi is charged with publishing false information with “intent to disrupt public order.” If convicted, he could face one to 12 months in prison and a fine of 1,200 to 100,000 Moroccan dirhams ($165 to $13,739).
“We are not going to apologize. We did nothing wrong,” says Ahmed Sheikh, editor-in-chief of the Arabic news channel.
Sheikh explained the events behind the story and why he believes the Doha, Qatar-based channel was right to defend its coverage of the Sidi Ifni incident.
Q: Why did the Moroccan government decide to sue Al Jazeera for reporting on this incident?
Ahmed Sheikh: I don’t know. I think it is the Moroccan authorities who should answer this question, not us.
We believe we did nothing wrong. We were conducting business as usual and then suddenly they decided to suspend our newsletter. [our bureau in Rabat].
But they never revealed the reason. As far as I know, I have never received any complaints from them.
How did Al Jazeera come to cover these events and why was it considered controversial?
We received information from human rights organizations. Those people came on the air and confirmed that there was a death in that city. This article was also published by the International Press Agency and Moroccan newspapers.
We were among the news organizations that obtained and broadcast this information, but we were the only ones to face backlash. I don’t know why.
Moroccan Communications Minister Khalid Nasiri recently told an Arabic newspaper that Al Jazeera was the first media outlet to publish an article about the Sidi Ifni protests, and other media outlets followed suit, leading to the lawsuit being taken to court. Is this accurate?
That’s not true.
I read the report from the International News Agency, but they didn’t quote us. Although they published the same information, Al Jazeera never said that four, six, or eight people were killed in the Sidi Ifni protests. They had their own sources that told them that.
Why do you think Al Jazeera was brought to court rather than other media outlets that reported this story?
I do not know. This question should be answered by the Moroccan government, not by us.
All correspondents of the International News Agency and some Moroccan newspapers should be taken to court for publishing similar articles.
It would be natural enough if they decided to take Hassan Rashidi to court because we were the first to break the news that people were killed in that city. Additionally, the Moroccan parliament decided to send a fact-finding mission to the city to determine whether anyone was actually killed.
This is contradictory. They should have waited until their fact-finding mission was completed and they returned with a final solution to the problem. But they don’t wait. I think they were looking for a scapegoat and decided Al Jazeera was the best fit.
How would you respond to the Moroccan authorities’ request for Al Jazeera to apologize to the Moroccan people for a report it claims is false?
Why not ask other news organizations to apologize? The story was also reported in Moroccan newspapers, international news agencies, and other television stations. So why only Al Jazeera?
Our sources are well known. Human rights organizations confirmed that these deaths did occur. To this day, Moroccan newspapers report the horrific details of what happened at Sidi Ifni.
They report on rape, torture, and people fleeing to the mountains. It has been reported that four bodies were found floating in the sea. How can they explain it? Did we do something that we should apologize for? We cited Moroccan sources and Moroccan newspapers reported this story. We insisted on the Moroccan government’s official denial of the deaths.
I’m not going to apologize. We didn’t do anything wrong.
Moroccan authorities are increasingly dissatisfied with Al Jazeera’s programming and are reportedly using the Sidi Ifni incident as a pretext to put pressure on the channel. How do you respond to that accusation?
We refuse to be pressured. Guests will speak on a variety of topics from their own perspectives. They do not necessarily represent the views of Al Jazeera. Why should we be blamed for what people say?
Thanks to the Internet, people all over the world can freely express their opinions. Why aren’t our governments more tolerant of other opinions instead of getting angry and furious at them? Surely they could be more tolerant, tolerant, and open? It should be.
Al Jazeera has also repeatedly published articles about the successes achieved by the Kingdom of Morocco. We highly praised the Equity and Reconciliation Commission established to address human rights violations in Morocco.
We reported on and discussed government projects to eliminate shantytowns around large cities. Morocco’s agricultural reform is another success story we highlighted. We spent many hours covering demonstrations by Moroccans across the kingdom who were angry when the King of Spain visited the occupied cities of Sebuta and Melilia.
As journalists, we are here to tell the world, including people in Morocco and the Arab world, about our real problems.
If these bad things exist, why should we avoid reporting them? Is hiding the problem the solution?
Moroccan authorities had suspended our public relations even before the Sidi Ifni incident. So if they’re trying to pressure us, we say it’s wrong.
Is there any basis for speculation that Al Jazeera may move its operations to other nearby capitals if no settlement is reached with the Moroccan authorities regarding this incident? And if Moroccan authorities refuse to renew Al Jazeera’s broadcasting license, what will be the future of Maghreb News?
All options are being considered, including moving to another capital or broadcasting from here in Doha, but Maghreb News will continue to be broadcast.
This is a very popular public relations magazine in Maghreb countries [Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mauritania] Since it began airing a year and a half ago, it has established its own audience.
Therefore, all options are on the table regarding the Maglev Gazette, and I can assure you that it will continue.
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