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Rabat – Morocco’s National Press Council (CNP) and the Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Publishers (FMEJ) have condemned Algerian television channel Echourkouk’s use of a satirical program to attack Morocco and debase its King.
The program caricatured King Mohammed VI, stirring controversy and anger among Moroccan citizens and officials.
CNP said that it followed the reactions caused by the program that “clearly attacks Moroccan people and King Mohammed VI by drawing on a language of denigration and degradation of dignity.”
The press council said that civilized channels publish such programs without including insulting content to harm people.
“This program used expressions that were detrimental to the person of the King and contemptuous of the Moroccan people, while cearly inciting war, as many flagrant violations of journalistic ethics,” the council argued.
Echourkouk’s video contained anti-semitic comments, a “practice banned by laws around the world that do not tolerate discimination between people on the basis of their ethnicity or religion.”
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The council also invited the press and the media in Morocco to refrain from any similar reaction to preserve respect for the ethics and professional conduct of the press, respecting objectivity.
The council also called on Algerian journalists and media to “stay away from anything that can harm the relations of brotherhood and friendship between the two peoples.”
A similar statement from the FMEJ condemned the “irresponsible” behavior of the Algerian television, which broadcast a program that was detrimental to the monarchical institution.
“We are in Laayoune for the restructuring of the sections of the FMEJ in the southern provinces and were surprised by the irresponsible behavior of the Algerian television channel Echourouk,” the FMEJ said.
Nouredine Miftah, the president of the FMEJ, said: “I strongly denounce the behavior of this channel which has nothing to do with freedom of expression or satire.”
He noted that the satirical show is “pure and simple insolence,” constituting a “gross attack” against Morocco and its King.
“We reiterate our call to [the Algerian colleagues] to abandon these trivialities and take the path of reason and contribute to the Maghreb integration and reduce the divide that exists between the countries of the region,” Miftah stressed.
Officials from Morocco’s government have also condemned the Algerian news outlet, thanking Moroccans for showing support and love for their country.
Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani said that the opposing media is waging a war against Morocco, its constitutional institutions, and its King.
He attributed such insults to the “continuous successes in different levels, including the dossier of the Moroccan Sahara.”
