Morocco: Weekly Journal under seal
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ennahar
Aboubakar Jamaï, Editor
RABAT - The premises of the weekly Journal (JH, independent) were sealed Wednesday after a decision by a Moroccan court, according to the publication headquartered in Casablanca.
This measure came after the Commercial Court of Casablanca on Monday ordered the "judicialliquidation" of "Media Trust," editors of JH - 18,000 copies per week) until 2003, told AFP a judicial source.
"Media Trust" has been sentenced by the court for not paying" significant liabilities "to the National Fund of Social Security (CNSS), some banks and tax administration, said Abdelkébir Tabih, a lawyer of the creditors JH.
- "The JH will likely not appear this week because we can not enter the premises. We have no place to work," said a journalist of the publication.
"The trial court in Casablanca is enforceable in the field, under the supervision of a judge and a trustee. The amount of debt exceeds five million dirhams (450 000 Euros)," said Abdelkebir Tabih a Counsel for the NSSF and the tax department.
According to Mr. Tabih, this justice decision is against the leaders of MediaTrust, but it also covers Trimedia, which has replaced the original and edited the publication for seven years.
According to Ali Amar, a founder of JH, the application of decision is a "killing of the weekly Journal".
"There is indeed a huge debt of Media Trust. But I think there is a genuine desire to silence the journalist," he said.
"There is a proposed restructuring of media in Morocco, wanted by the authorities, in this project and the disappearance of the Journal is already scheduled," he added.
"I do not understand why justice has run a trial against a company (Trimedia) which is not concerned by the debts and which publishes the Journal for seven years," said Mr. Amar.
- Founded in 1997, the Journal is a weekly independent publication. The subjects it was addressing broke several taboos, including politics.
- Ennaharonline/ M. O.
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