Posted on 01/15/2007 9:25:04 AM PST by Alouette
CASABLANCA, Morocco - The editor and a journalist at a Moroccan news weekly that published jokes relating to Islam were convicted Monday of insulting the religion, court officials said.
The court gave three-year suspended sentences to Driss Ksikes, editor of Nichane, and to journalist Sanaa al-Aji, court officials said.
Both were barred from any journalistic activity for two months and the independent Arab-language magazine was suspended for two months. They were fined $9,280 each.
The sentence was milder than the three to five years in prison that prosecutors had requested.
The journalists would not comment as they left the courthouse. Lawyer Taoufik Benyoub said they would appeal the verdict.
But Ksikes last week told The Associated Press that the 10-page article was meant as a thoughtful examination of Moroccan popular humor.
"We just wanted to explain what Moroccans laugh about," Ksikes said.
Prime Minister Driss Jettou ordered Nichane banned on Dec. 20 in response to complaints posted on an Islamist Web site, Khorafa.org, and complaints from the Kuwaiti government about the article. Ksikes and al-Aji were swiftly tried for insulting Islam, a crime in Morocco.
Morocco's National Press Union condemned the trial.
The trial and a government-supported libel suit against another magazine, Le Journal Hebdomadaire, have led to concerns that the North African kingdom may be backsliding on moves in recent years to relax long-standing restrictions on the media.
Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders has said that the government, by punishing Nichane, was seeking to burnish its Islamic credentials before parliamentary elections this year that the Islamist opposition Justice and Development Party is expected to win.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Is there anything that is not insulting to Islam?
Chopping heads and flying planes into buildings gets no punishment. Saying the truth gets you in trouble.
Watching 60 minutes, George W. Bush, I realize that the Western Mind has no comprehension of how these people think. Key to success in dialog is understanding people. They don't thirst or crave a democratic free speech populace.
I don't suppose al-AP would dare tell us what the jokes were about.
I feel left out for not being fined -- http://youtube.com/watch?v=K_Yf7rfGKPw
Nobody with a sense of humor is permitted to convert to islam...nor would they want to.
Question :"Is there anything that is not insulting to Islam?"
---
Answer: A Muslim.
Since I am not a Muslim, my being alive is an insult to Islam.
It's a good thing Jouralists aren't fined for insulting Christianity here... But just you wait, I bet thefirst fine to be handed out to a journalist in America will be for insulting the cult of death.
ALERT
Only the truth
on the contrary- the truth IS insulting to Islam.
Can CBS be fined for insulting President Bush?
All night long on "60 Minutes" it was "Mr. Bush" instead of "Mr. President".
Not to mention the insulting questions.
they better not read FR
NO, there is NOTHING we can emulate from Islam.
I'm sure they do. Just like they read Jihad Watch. They don't come and play here very often, like they do on Jihad watch.
It's been a long morning... thanks for the assist!! LOL
How many Muslims does it take to change a lightbulb?
One thousand and one. One to guilt-trip a westerner into doing it, and a thousand to blame the westerner for destroying the darkness that is central to their way of life.
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