By Myriam Ait Malk
By Myriam Ait Malk
Rabat – In an interview with Moroccan news website Al Aoual, Karim Tazi commented on the highly criticized France 3 documentary, “The King of Morocco: The Secret Reign,” which aired on May 26.
Tazi, a well-known businessman, issued a joint news release in conjunction with Transparency Maroc’s General Secretary, Fouad Abdelmoumni, before the France 3 documentary was aired. The news release was intended to distance Tazi and Abdelmoumni from the documentary and its message. Tazi said in his interview with Al Aoual that “the documentary included petty accusations against the King of Morocco.”
According to Tazi, the documentary’s producers portrayed Mohamed VI as a money-hungry dictator. He also stated that the documentary producers interviewed him for two hours, during which time he attempted to portray a more balanced view of Morocco.
“I expressed my conviction that Morocco not being a democracy does not necessarily mean it should be depicted as a dictatorship in which human rights and freedoms are inexistent,” he told Al Aoual.
Tazi also asserted that the documentary about the King was particularly “selective” in its content, especially given that the royal holding company withdrew its interests in a number of business sectors in Morocco beginning in 2012.
The documentary about King Mohamed VI received harsh criticism from the Moroccan public, many of whom urged others to express their love for their monarch on social networks.