Comments on: Morocco: The Post that led Mohammed Raji to Jail

By: rachid

rachid — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:37:57 +0000

you all from the polisario , aaaach al malik vive le roi ,allah alwatan almalik….we have our law and he should have keept his mounth shut , very easy for rest of you freedoom warriors shut the hell up you dont know a shit.

By: Translations Company Manager

Translations Company Manager — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:41:17 +0000

I suppose he got his comeuppance. I do not know the details, but I completely argee with his arrest.

By: amine B

amine B — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:22:16 +0000

First I would like to say that my heart goes out to the poor blogger that lost his freedom because of his honesty. Honesty that is not only encouraged by any society in the world, but mainly trusted upon us as Muslims.
Second, since I have moved to the united state I came to understand that morocco and many other 3rd world countries live in a society lead by an educated few and others that just like the throne, the power was passed down to them just like a used car. As Moroccan; we do have rights on paper but no one to impose them or lay the “law”, we became in the habit of buying our way to anything, if you need a birth certificate for example you know that the fee is 20 Moroccan Dirhams and another 20 for the guy that stamps the form. If you get pooled over for what ever the reason may be, to get out of it you either got to have a strong last name; that is well known in the society witch links you to one of the few; or another 100 M.D. same goes for doctor visits at the public hospital or any form that requests the government approval.
Third and last I just hope and pray that one day our leaders back home will have a sence of pride and responsibility as we the “ordinary” people do.
And to try and resolve our problems we have to work from the inside out by first educating our people, build more schools make education mandatory up until a certain age, impose the law on all with no exception and go back to that rebuild and change mentality we started with after our independence.
To finish this sad story with a smile I hope no Moroccan ever gets in a fender bender in his way to get a birth certificate and gets taking to a hospital…it will cost him :)(

By: Juan

Juan — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:31:12 +0000

I am a Christian, but I hate when people are not allowed to speak freely.
When in the history of human kind the government has abridged the rights of the governed, action must be taken.

By: Les média sociaux en Afrique - Troisième partie : Démocratie | ReadWriteWeb France

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:43:01 +0000

[...] nombreux blogeurs (ainsi que de beaucoup d’utilisateurs de Twitter, sans oublier le magazine GlobalVoicesOnline) ont attiré l’attention de la communauté internationale sur son sort. L’effet [...]

By: Vox Publica » Fengslet for kongekritikk

Vox Publica » Fengslet for kongekritikk — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 09:52:01 +0000

[...] gjennom gaver”, som ble publisert i Hespress. Blogginnlegget er oversatt til engelsk av Global Voices Online. Her kritiserte han den kongelige tradisjonen kalt ”grima”, som innebærer at kongen gir [...]

By: Les média sociaux en Afrique - Troisème partie : Démocratie | ReadWriteWeb France

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:26:20 +0000

By: Business News » Blog Archive » Social Media in Africa, Part 3: Democracy

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:06:24 +0000

[...] in his online magazine, Hespress, it was through the efforts of other bloggers (like the writers at GlobalVoicesOnline) and people using applications like Twitter that his story made international news. The added [...]

By: Social Media in Africa, Part 3: Democracy | Unusual Fellow

Social Media in Africa, Part 3: Democracy | Unusual Fellow — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 07:47:50 +0000

By: Blogger Mohamed Erraji zu zwei Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt | TB News :: Aktuelles Zeitgeschehen :: Nachrichten - Politik - Kultur - Menschenrechte - Inlandsnachrichten - Auslandsnachrichten

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:20:47 +0000

[...] Original-Artikel von Mohamed Erraji [...]

By: Global Voices Online » Saudi Arabia: Why Should Arabs Have Access to the Internet?

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 02:26:01 +0000

[...] crime? Posting this article, part of which is translated here into English, on Hespress [Ar], in which he describes how the Moroccan King's charity and [...]

By: jason

jason — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:06:43 +0000

very pleased lovely update me morething from throat and brainteaser is me cheer’s any question relax and update me i will opose

By: Manus

Manus — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 10:04:21 +0000

Firstly, I would like to thank Cindy for the accurate and honest description of the state of affairs in Morocco. Morocco is a place of many contrasts where corruption, prostitution, drugs, abuse of power, injustice, are very common.

However, many countries have these problems, so what makes Morocco different than any country in the world?

To answer this question one needs to understand the nature of the Moroccan regime and the Moroccan Monarchy in particular.
Morocco remains one of the most unequal, if not feudal, societies in the world. Mohammed VI alone owns a reported quarter of the country’s agricultural land and under Moroccan law, discussion of the royal purse is illegal, but the country’s phosphate mines – the largest exporter in the world – remain a royal or Cherifian company. Also, through the biggest Economical Group in Morocco ONA they totally control the every aspect of the economy. Literally the Moroccan Monarchy owns the country.
But the economy is not enough; the Sultan in Morocco took his legitimacy from God. He is the country’s religious mentor – the Commander of the Faithful and head of the Maliki school of Islam. He is technically the most sacred living entity in the universe. Of course, after God himself.
The truth of the matter as described by many international institutions:

“Eighty percent of villages are still without electricity or running water, and the UN ranks Morocco 126th on its league of developed states. A third of the country’s 30 million population live below the poverty line – many in squalid shanty towns which hug the major cities. Fifty-two years after the French withdrew, Morocco_s people remain for the most part illiterate.”

I think to talk about freedom of speech in Morocco is not only misleading; it is a gross distortion of the truth, and any human been with an iota of decency and integrity should not support this last relic of human degradation.

By: cindy

cindy — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:32:37 +0000

I have been to Morocco several times. In some areas it seems really bad. It does seem the king does not share the wealth with the general population. Over there, some of the girls run around half naked and this guy can’t say what’s on his mind without being arrested? I think he is brave for stating what he thought. No wonder all the young people hope to get out of Morocco. Most young dream of America. In Morocco, no jobs, many beggers, a lot of dirty areas. The poor are just as poor as the rich are rich. The King should take care of those that made him filfthy rich and make his country a better place in Morocco’s sight and all over the world. His picture is in evryone’s store, on billboards on many corners of the street. This is an arrogant way to ensure that everyone knows he is king. A very beautiful but very sad place to be. I had a problem with an item I shipped to Morocco and there was a delay and excessive charge for storage. When we got a freight forwarder over there and the customs tried to be corrupt so they could change the amount. They drug their feet and in the end, we lost $4000 due to their wanna be corrupters and the actual amount asked for. Their lack of fast moving on this issue was highly expensive for me but they didn’t even care a bit. Be most are not legitimate and honest. We are going to watch what happens to Erraji in the court tomorrow and comment after that. Have a good night.

By: khalid

khalid — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:35:30 +0000

IT IS VERY SAD TO HEAR SAD NEWS AS THIS FROM MOROCCO, BUT IT SEEMS THAT THERE IS NOTHING BUT ATROCITIES FRO THE KINGDOM. THE SIYUATION IS DESPERATE AND THERE IS NO LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. SADLY, MANY PEOPLE HAD LEFT AND MANY OTHERS ARE WAITING TO LEAVE, AND FOR THOSE WHO HAVE TRIED TO GO BACK MOST OF THE TIME END UP RETURNIG TO EUOPE OR THE STATES OR ELSEWHRE. THE SITUATION IS CATASTROPHIC, ERRAJI IS NOT THE FIRST AND HE SURELY WILL NOT BE THE LAST. WE HAVE TO TACKLE THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM, BOTH YOU AND I KNOW WHAT I AM REFERING TO.