Aboubakr Jamai, managing editor of Moroccan weekly Le Journal Hebdomadaire, is resigning in a move that signals the obvious decline of press freedom in Morocco.

Jamai, a former Yale World Fellow, has been with the magazine since its 1997 inception, stated to Reporters Without Borders that:  “Staying on as managing director and therefore as the person legally responsible for the ‘Journal Hebdomadaire’ would have endangered its survival. The threat is not hypothetical, as it already happened in 2004, when the authorities sold off some of the newspaper’s property and seized funds directly from the distribution company Sapress as a result of an earlier damages award.”

“For those who follow the Moroccan media closely, Jamaï’s departure is a significant loss and marks the end of an era in which, despite the difficulties, it seemed possible to increase freedom of expression,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Today this hope is becoming more and more tenuous, even if it has not completely disappeared.”

Although the magazine has experienced several massive monetary blows, Jamai’s resignation is a direct result of a $350,000 fine given to the magazine nine months ago in damages to Claude Moniquet, head of the Brussels-based security think tank European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center, for libel claims. By resigning, Jamai will free the magazine of their monetary burden.

Jamai has also been a regular on the Washingtonpost.com blog, publishing in English articles which, in Morocco, would be considered too outrageous or controversial.

Perhaps the saddest part of the story is a rumour that Jamai will be pressured to exile, and has plans to leave Morocco.

Links:

Committee to Protect Journalists

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans Frontieres)