Trial of Al-Jazeera correspondent in Morocco postponed to 7 Jan 09 226 words 3 December 2008 15:07 English (c) 2008 The British Broadcasting Corporation. All Rights Reserved. No material may be reproduced except with the express permission of The British Broadcasting Corporation. The magistrate's court at the appeal court in Rabat on 3 December postponed to 7 January next the hearing of the cases of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera bureau chief in Rabat, Hassan Rachidi, and Brahim Sbaalil, member of the Moroccan Centre for Human Rights (CMDH), who were both condemned to pay 50,000 dirhams "for publishing false information and complicity over the incidents in Sidi Ifni", a southern port city where demonstrators clashed with police a few months ago, the Moroccan news agency MAP reported. MAP said the decision to postpone the hearing was taken during the second audience in the presence of Rachidi and Sbaalil, to allow the latter's defence team to submit to the court the sentence handed down against its client and which had been confirmed in an appeal hearing. The two defendants are being prosecuted for "publishing false information and complicity in accordance with the provisions of Article 42 of the Press and Publishing Code", following a report last June by Al-Jazeera saying people had died during Sidi Ifni incidents "despite the denial by the public authorities sent to the Al-Jazeera bureau in Rabat", added MAP. Source: MAP news agency, Rabat, in French 1439 gmt 3 Dec 08 BBC Mon MD1 Media FMU ak a93b5502 Document BBCMM00020081203e4c3000gp |
