The Moroccan Press Union (SNPM) voiced Thursday its fill and unwavering support for journalist Abdessamad Nasser, in response to his wrongful dismissal by the Al Jazeera channel, which seems to be presently run by a crew allegedly loyal to the tyranny in Algiers.
The SNPM stated that Al Jazeera’s unilateral decision to abort Abdessamad Nasser’s contract–implying his unfair dismissal–emanating from his decision to “tweet” on his own personal account a message in support of humanitarian causes–damages the channel’s credibility by suggesting that it employs censorship tactics.
The Union stated that it hastened to carry out the necessary investigations into this surprising decision taken hastily by the management of the Al Jazeera channel.
The inquiry revealed that Nasser shared his own personal opinion in the tweet, in which he defended the honor of Moroccan women, following insults to which they had been subjected by the official Algerian media.
According to the SNPM, the channel’s CEO subsequently summoned Nasser to his office and asked him to retract or alter the tweet so that it would not be interpreted as an attack on the Algerian state, and that if he refused, he would be forced to take punitive administrative measures.
Nasser refused to comply and continued to argue that the tweet in question fell within the conduct of freedom of expression in a personal forum which in no way, shape, or form represented Al Jazeera.
The Union recalled that various journalists working for the same news source have repeatedly not hesitated to disrespect Morocco and its institutions, while in those circumstances the channel’s management has hypocritically refrained from reprimanding the individuals in question.
The Union elaborated that finally, it concluded that there is “an Algerian lobby inside and outside the channel, guiding these sordid games,” and that it had confirmed the existence of interventions and pressure from the Algerian embassy in Doha to impose anti-Moroccan tropes within the channel and in its media content.
Following this heinous decision, the Syndicat said that it will file a complaint with Al Jazeera’s management and with the Center for Press Freedom, as well as correspondence with the International Federation of Journalists and the General Union of Arab Journalists. In the near future, the SNPM also plans to stage a sit-in protest in front of Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Rabat.