Reporters Without Borders said on Tuesday it was "extremely shocked" after a court banned journalist Ali Lmrabet from practising his profession for ten years and sentenced him to a heavy fine. "It is the first time in the history of the Moroccan press that a journalist has been given such a heavy sentence in a defamation case," the worldwide press freedom body said.
"It is obvious that the Moroccan authorities want to silence Ali Lmrabet at a time when he was waiting for the final go-ahead to bring out a new newspaper," it added.
