The National Media and Publishers Association issued a statement on the 31st of October, denouncing the mistreatment of Morocco’s media delegation from the “Al Aoula” Channel at the hands of Algeria. They declared that they have followed up on the new ‘scandal’ which forced the official Moroccan media delegation to leave Algerian territory, on the eve of the Arab League Summit, due to pressure, harassment, security investigations, and long waiting hours at Algiers International Airport Houari Boumediene.
The association received testimonies from media professionals who were part of the official mission of the Kingdom, stating that they suffered for more than six hours, during which they were subjected to the most horrific treatment by the Algerian security services of all kinds, even though the media provided all their identification documents.
The Algerian authorities refused the fact that the Moroccan delegation entered Algeria via a direct air route and forced them to go by plane to Paris to then reach Algiers before subjecting them to what looked like arbitrary arrest, which ended by stripping them of their status as journalists, removing their equipment and cameras, and allowing them to enter Algerian territory as citizens only.
The association declared in its press release that it denounces these disgraceful acts that occurred for the second time in less than three months with delegations of Moroccan media professionals. In this sense, the association condemned this non-civilized behavior that showcases the absence of a civil state in that part of the Maghreb that believes in freedom of press and expression and the mobility of media professionals to report news independently—adding that this is replaced with military barracks that control foreigners and journalists’ every little move and considers every expatriate from Morocco as an enemy.
Moreover, the association condemned the treatment of the “Al Aoula” Channel delegation based on a security and intelligence approach forcing them to return to Morocco without being able to cover the events of the Arab summit in which Morocco participates.
The association also pointed out that this revealed the falsity of the Algerian government’s allegations of good neighborliness and the reunification of Arab peoples and States who adopted it as a slogan of the summit after the military was visibly bothered to receive media professionals.
The same source called on the free and impartial Algerian and international media to condemn these repetitive actions targeted at the Moroccan press and issue an official statement about it, respectively.
The statement concludes with the association stating that it retains the right, nationally and internationally, to rehabilitate Moroccan media against Algeria’s arrogance and narrow mentality.