This week, I will be traveling to Miami with some other Global Voices folk to attend the ifocus WeMedia conference (see interview here).  I will also be launching my own website/blog (finally!) - which is not to say this one will become defunct…I plan to leave it up and eventually import all of the old posts to my new blog - but from now on, I will be blogging at jilliancyork.com - so please, change your links!

Today, Tuesday, February 19, is the fourteenth day of Fouad Mourtada’s imprisonment. He committed the error, but not the crime, of creating a Facebook account in the name of Prince Moulay Rachid. This account contained no insults against the Prince nor was it the instrument of any swindling attempts. His name was immediately given wide publicity by the authorities, in breach of the presumption of innocence he’s supposed to enjoy, and he alleges having been beaten and mishandled during his arrest. He initially had trouble finding a lawyer willing to defend him. The trial, due to begin on February 15, has been postponed to February 22, while his habeas corpus application has been rejected.

For this reason, The Morocco Report will be on strike on Tuesday, 19 February as a gesture of solidarity with Fouad Mourtada and the other prisoners of opinion currently jailed in Morocco.

Moroccan Fouad Mourtada has been arrested in Casablanca for creating a false profile on Facebook of a member of Morocco’s royal family.

His family has created a website: Help Fouad, to get his story internationally recognized.

Although this should come as no surprise, I find it absolutely deplorable that anyone be arrested for a mere prank, even if said prank is completely taboo in Morocco - sure, Fouad should’ve known better, but give the guy a break!  Five years in jail, for what?  What will that prove?  That the royal family can’t take a joke?

Morocco is getting dangerously close to the level of censorship its Middle Eastern neighbors (okay, not neighbors per se) practice.  Next thing you know, they’ll be arresting bloggers.

Please post about this, share Fouad’s story, and get this out there for people to read.  Check out Global Voices Advocacy soon for a post on the subject by Sami ben Gharbia.

Global Voices, in partnership with Reuters, has launched a new site that I’ll be working on; Voices without Votes is a project of Global Voices commissioned by Reuters.

Americans are the only ones who can elect the United States president, but the 2008 election offers a unique opportunity to harvest global commentary on America’s politics and foreign policy and how it affects the rest of the world.

Voices Without Votes highlights conversations in non-American blogs and citizen media, with emphasis on the regions covered by Global Voices: Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and the Middle East.

Please: if you are a blogger in that category or spot any posts that would fit Voices without Votes, please submit them here or e-mail them to me at: themoroccoreport@gmail.com