Communication Ministry denounces RSF's reports on freedom of press in Morocco

The ministry of Culture and Communication has «strongly» denounced Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) disregard for the criteria of objectivity and transparency in its reports and declarations on press freedom in Morocco.

The ministry said in a statement that RSF's report for 2019 «violates» the rules of objectivity and the criteria of accuracy and transparency, by classifying Morocco as a «country at risk» for the press.

The statement also noted that RSF, «in a further violation» of the rules of objectivity towards Morocco, reports a «decline» in press freedom during 2018, through what the report described as «strong pressure of justice against journalists» and the «high» number of complaints against professional journalists and some «citizen journalists», adding that the report claims that the Moroccan authorities have «deliberately obstructed the work of national and foreign media».

The ministry, which expressed its surprise at these judgments that «have nothing to do with reality», deplored the language used in RSF’s report and which draws on an «alarmist» lexicon by referring to a supposed «strong pressure of justice on journalists», while the facts underlying these judgments and conclusions «are based on a single case that was clarified in response to a previous report from the same organization».

The same source also expressed its «amazement» at «RSF's exploitation of ordinary facts, notwithstanding their veracity, to make judgments on press freedom in Morocco, without taking the slightest consideration of the reforms implemented each year in the fields of press freedom and expression, democratization and modernization of the Moroccan media landscape».

After refuting the content of this report «in its entirety», the ministry of Communication underlined that correspondents of the various national and international media as well as special envoys of foreign media, carry out their duties, throughout the Kingdom, «in complete freedom and under normal conditions, in accordance with the provisions and legal norms that govern and supervise the profession of journalist».