Driss Ksikes and Sanae al-Aji after hearing the verdict on Monday, January 15, 2007.

This afternoon, BBC News Africa reported that the 50 year old Moroccan press code shall soon be amended, so that journalists will not be able to receive prison sentences in the future (although fines and bans will most likely take some time to fade). This news comes shortly after the verdict that Driss Ksikes, editor, and Sanae Al-Aji, journalist, both of temporarily banned magazine Nichane, face only a three year suspended sentence and minor fines (which have been reported as being both 80,000dh each and 80,000dh combined; various sources are quoting different figures - either way, it’s not as bad as it could be and the magazine will surely help them).

Outside of the courtroom, reports BBC News, the journalists were defiant.

“I don’t regret what I wrote,” said Ksikes, “because these are jokes produced by society…but there are so many layers of readers in our society, and that’s why we apologized to those who felt offended.”

Aboubakr Jamai, editor of French-language Moroccan weekly Le Journal said, “I’m afraid we are going backwards despite the relative clemency of the sentence. We could have advanced the cause of freedom of expression in the first place if the government had not prosecuted Nichane. But they decided to go ahead with it and then felt obliged to sentence them.”

Last week I said that the government was catering to Islamists. Though I haven’t exactly changed my mind, I think the judge in this case did his best to be as lenient as possible. The journalists are expected to file an appeal, and I would love to see it come to fruition.

Sadly, it seems that most Moroccans who would support free speech are either too busy studying or too lazy to come out and protest. Although the vast majority of my teenage students have said they do fully support the concept, very few of them would be likely to state that publicly, or better yet, protest in the streets for it. Too hshuma.

And then there are the other Moroccans, as the BBC News story quoted:

“They have insulted our God, our prophet and our religion. They should be punished,” one woman was quoted as saying.

“There must be limits to freedom of expression. This is blasphemy,” said another.

Limits to freedom of expression? It still strikes me really odd that people actually believe that. I suppose the only thing to do is work on the next generation.