A New York Times standards representative told MWN that such removals are, in fact, standard practice and part of an automated process. Media close to the security services that specialize in maligning critics published numerous articles insulting Radi, his parents, friends, and supporters; disclosing alleged details of his private life; and correctly forecasting the date of his arrest. An article published on July 15 by the news site Le Desk, for which Radi works, says that a British economic consulting company contracted Radi in July 2018 as a local risk assessment consultant. Omar Radi told Morocco World News on June 23 that he was involved in the making of the report. The journalist is known for criticizing human rights violations in the country. In a separate case, Radi will appear before a judge on September 24 on charges of “manifest public drunkenness,” violence, and insults, and risks up to six months in prison. Morocco World News: Championing Free Speech and Thoughtful Debate Through Journalistic Excellence. A court jailed him briefly for a tweet critical of a judge in December 2019. His trial has not yet begun. On July 2, a communique read by the Moroccan government’s spokesman at a news conference after a government meeting announced that Radi was “subjected to a judiciary investigation for presumably harming State security because of his connection with an intelligence agent of a foreign country.” The official statement set the tone for a months-long campaign of defamation of Radi on websites reportedly tied with Moroccan security services. Omar Radi, 33, is due to be tried on January 2, 2020 for allegedly insulting a judge who imposed heavy penalties on protesters from the Rif region. Rabat – The New York Times has deleted from its website a Reuters article dated June 22, 2020, that briefs the report Amnesty International (AI) … Erriq, like Mansouri, claimed that the police set him up and fabricated the evidence of adultery, including forcibly undressing and photographing him at the scene. Pretrial Detention In a statement published on Facebook, Radi said that Alaoui had been harassing him each time he entered or left Casablanca’s judicial police headquarters, where he was interrogated. before publishing the report. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. The New York Times’ removal of articles is a “common practice,” the outlet stressed. The same investigating judge will examine all of these charges. “Articles written by Reuters or the Associated Press do not remain on the [New York Times] site [for] more than a limited time. The director of Le Desk, who reported on the incident, called it a “total ambush.” Radi and Stitou were held overnight and released the next afternoon. British Economic Consulting Firms Amnesty International published a report on June 22 in which it alleges that Moroccan security services used Israeli software to spy on Radi. These cookies do not store any personal information. It’s large, and I don’t know. Monjib, who stayed in Morocco, has been attacked and insulted repeatedly by websites close to security services. “Bringing apparently bogus charges against critical journalists is now clearly part of the Moroccan government’s playbook for stifling dissent,” said Eric Goldstein, acting Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. Rabat – The New York Times has deleted from its website a Reuters article dated June 22, 2020, that briefs the report Amnesty International published the same day, alleging the Moroccan government has used spyware against journalist Omar Radi.. The column defends Radi’s case with an article under the headline “Stop the Hate Omar Radi and the repression of public discourse in Morocco. He claims the sexual encounter, which happened 10 days earlier, was consensual. Le Desk used the same language against the media outlets reporting on the deleted article and based its claims on Aida’s tweets. Chouf TV was mentioned as part of the “Slander Media,” a group of websites reportedly tied with security services that was denounced on July 16 by a collective of 110 Moroccan journalists for bombarding dissidents with “defamation, insults and calumny” each time the authorities placed them under investigation. This is not the first time the authorities have set their sights on Radi. Charges of Public Drunkenness, Violence, Insults In a recent interview with Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneve, Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita said Amnesty International failed to be neutral and objective in the June 22 report. The judge rejected the motion to grant Radi provisional release on September 3.   Omar Radi was released … Eid Al Adha in Morocco: How Many Sheep Can You Fit in a Jeep. During this period, a judge approved a prosecutor’s request to tap Radi’s phone. Conveniently left out of the emerging narrative of another “dissident journalist hero” being martyred for speaking truth to power is the fact that only a few weeks prior Radi … The journalist is known for criticizing human rights violations in the country. Human Rights Watch is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit registered in the US under EIN: 13-2875808. Such broadly worded offenses are so open to arbitrary interpretation by judges that a person cannot reasonably predict what acts will be considered crimes, Human Rights Watch said. Omar Radi’s case benefits those fixated on demonizing Morocco and haughtily dismissing all the progress the country has made in recent years. Radi, 34, in jail since July 29, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The documents he manages to obtain show that very expensive land was offered free of charge to personalities close to the Moroccan authorities. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Blind Trust in Amnesty International, a Blank Check for Waging War. However, NYT’s article sourcing procedures do not discount allegations from several sources of Amnesty International’s bias against Morocco. New York, July 2, 2020–Moroccan authorities must immediately stop harassing Omar Radi, investigative journalist at the news website Le Desk, and allow him to work and travel freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.. The outlet also has individual sections on its website dedicated to recent, According to Dudding, only agency-sourced articles that appear in NYT’s print newspaper remain on their website long-term “as part of our record.” He added that “you can tell if an article appeared in print at the bottom of the page.”. The work that forms the focus of the “espionage” case involves both journalistic work and research he conducted on contract for foreign-based clients. The URL of the deleted article still contains the date of publication and the keywords “reuters,” “cyber, “nso group,” and “morocco.” But the article itself has been wiped clean, leaving only a “Page No Longer Available” message. On September 3, the investigative judge rejected the motion to release him on the grounds that “the acts [for which Radi is prosecuted] are dangerous, the investigation is still at its beginning, (and) releasing [Radi] could obstruct investigative proceedings,” the defense told Human Rights Watch. One of those reports, which disclosed details of the police investigation on Radi, was briefly available online and then deleted. Radi is a freelance investigative journalist who writes primarily for Le Desk and is a member of the ICIJ journalism consortium. Please give now to support our work, Omar Radi Abusively Jailed on Charges That Seem Flimsy, Political. Human Rights Watch obtained a PDF version of it. The journalist said what he had with Boutahar, who worked with him at news outlet Le Desk, was a … Stitou and Alaoui are provisionally free pending a first court hearing on this case scheduled for September 24. Omar’s project is on land expropriation in Morocco. A quick search of the New York Times archives will yield scores of undeleted reports by Reuters and the Associated Press dating back several years. In May 2020, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Souleiman Raissouni, was arrested under suspicion of sexually assaulting a man. On July 23, a woman who works as an advertisement salesperson for Le Desk, the news site that employs Radi, filed charges of rape and indecent assault with violence against him. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Such examinations, when performed without consent, amount to cruel and degrading treatment under international human rights standards. According to the press close to power, this mission would in fact have had the purpose of “Arouse a feeling of social injustice among Moroccan citizens “ for’ “Undermine loyalty to national institutions”. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. “The espionage charges and a cascade of other charges appear concocted to take Omar Radi down.” The foundation offers paid fellowships to journalists and activists who work to bring about economic and social change. Le Desk slammed local outlets such as Barlamane and Chouf TV as “proxies” of Moroccan authorities after they published reports on the retracted article. What was Omar Radi working on for the Bertha Challenge? Ce n’était pas un article écrit ou signé par qqn du @nytimes. Seven. The move led some local outlets to suggest the New York Times’ editorial board may have doubts about Amnesty International’s claims, for which AI has failed to provide tangible evidence. The outlet also has individual sections on its website dedicated to recent top news articles from Reuters and the Associated Press. The organization “carried out a real media campaign on the basis of unfounded accusations, hence misleading several media and journalists,” he said. This case stems from a spat that Radi and Sitou had with Karim Alaoui, a cameraman of Chouf TV, a Moroccan online website reportedly tied with security services, outside a pub in Casablanca on July 5. A video of the incident features Alaoui hurling insults at Radi, calling him a “thief” and a “drunk.” Radi told Human Rights Watch he suspects the incident was a provocation based on the fact that the police intervened almost immediately and arrested him and Stitou while Alaoui, who had been stalking him for days, was not detained and faces lesser charges. Charges of Espionage and Harming State Security Tax evasion in Morocco is punished by fines, except in cases of repeat offenses, which carry short prison sentences. However, there are precedents in Morocco of arresting, trying, or imprisoning independent journalists, activists, or politicians on questionable charges of sexual misconduct. Rabat – The New York Times has deleted from its website a Reuters article dated June 22, 2020, that briefs the report Amnesty International (AI) published the same day, alleging the Moroccan government has used spyware against journalist Omar Radi. Rabat – The New York Times has deleted from its website a Reuters article dated June 22, 2020, that briefs the report Amnesty International published the same day, alleging the Moroccan government has used spyware against journalist Omar Radi. Morocco World News is dedicated to bringing the news of Morocco and the MENA region to a wide audience without bias or a political agenda. Prior to arresting him, the police also questioned Radi over bank and cash transfers he received from outside Morocco as payment for various jobs, including for freelance articles for foreign media. Radi would interview people in Morocco’s financial sector to profile the partners in a Moroccan financial services firm, on behalf of a client of the British company who was considering an investment in the Moroccan firm. Raissouni, her fiancé, and the doctor were freed on October 16 after receiving a royal pardon. New York Times Removal of Amnesty International Article Sparks Debate, Rabat – The New York Times has deleted from its website a. article dated June 22, 2020, that briefs the report Amnesty International (AI) published the same day, alleging the Moroccan government has used spyware against journalist Omar Radi. His judicial investigation, scheduled to begin on September 22, 2020, raises concerns that authorities are abusing the justice system to silence one of the few remaining critical voices in Moroccan media. Muzzling Journalists: Morocco and Algeria Can Agree on That, Morocco: Crackdown on Social Media Critics, Morocco: Free Outspoken Journalist Jailed Over Tweet, Human Rights Dimensions of COVID-19 Response, Saudi Arabia: Migrants Held in Inhuman, Degrading Conditions, Armenia: Cluster Munitions Used in Multiple Attacks on Azerbaijan, Despite Prime Minister’s Promises, Disappearances Continue in Iraq, communique read by the Moroccan government’s spokesman, seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, judicial harassment attributable to nothing other than his investigative journalism, statement she gave to the police was forged, correctly alluded to the future date of arrest. In a Facebook post dated August 25, the woman who accuses Radi of rape responded to Bernani’s Washington Post op-ed. Radi has denied all the charges against him, including a rape charge that stems from an encounter that he called consensual. In the absence of a substantive justification of his pretrial detention, Radi should be released immediately, pending trial, Human Rights Watch said. Morocco World News contacted the New York Times for comment on the reason for the article’s removal. Will Dudding of NYT’s Standards and Corrections Department explained that AP- and Reuters-sourced articles “hosted on our website are placed there and removed via an automated service.”, He also noted that “in general, New York Times staff members do not write, edit or review these articles.”. On September 2, Radi’s lawyers requested that their client be released provisionally pending trial. Two months earlier, a leading member of the Islamist opposition Justice and Benevolence (Al Adl wa’l Ihsan) movement, El-Mostafa Erriq, and a woman he was visiting were arrested and detained for three days. Based on police findings, the prosecutor contends that Radi’s activities violate Morocco’s Penal Code article 191 by “harming external state security by maintaining an intelligence relationship with agents of a foreign authority with the purpose or effect to harm the diplomatic situation of Morocco.” Radi’s activities, the prosecutor contends, also warrant charges under article 206 of “harming state internal security by receiving remuneration from a foreign entity for an activity or propaganda that could shake the loyalty that citizens owe to the state and the institutions of the Moroccan people.” Omar Radi is the only one to have disclosed elements of the investigations, in an obvious attempt to maintain the misleading perception of an alleged “judicial harassment” against him. Thanks for subscribing! “You are a propagator of fake news,” she wrote in a separate tweet targeting Barlamane. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. The information included banking and property records, screenshots of private electronic conversations, allegations about sexual relationships (or oblique threats to expose them), identities of roommates, and biographical details, sometimes as far back as their childhood, complete with information on the parents of the targeted individuals. Omar Radi is the only one to have disclosed elements of the investigations, in an obvious attempt to maintain the misleading perception of an alleged "judicial harassment" against him. There appears to be no evidence that he provided classified information to anyone. The total amount of these payments, between 2012 and 2020, amounted to about $15,000. In investigative articles and elsewhere, several journalists identified the media in question as “close to the royal palace,” or having close ties with Morocco’s police and intelligence services. In October 2019, Akhbar Al Yaoum’s publisher, Taoufik Bouachrine, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sexually assaulting several women, in a trial that the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded was marred by due-process violations and part of a “judicial harassment attributable to nothing other than his investigative journalism.” The detention, trial and conviction are part of Morocco’s policy of persecuting dissidents, Amnesty says. Some of these trials have been widely denounced as politically motivated and failing to guarantee due process for all parties. The alleged incident happened in a house owned by the Le Desk’s director that is sometimes used as a workplace by staff.