Journalist from weekly magazine "Douman" assaulted

On 26 January 2003, Rachid Mahamid, a journalist with the Arabic-language satirical weekly "Douman", was assaulted by several individuals, including two journalists, while covering a meeting organised to demonstrate solidarity with Iraq. "This assault is worrying. The journalist was only trying to take photographs. Recourse to violence is never acceptable. If some people feel they have been slandered, they should file a complaint in court," stated RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. On 26 January, in the evening, Mahamid was assaulted by several individuals while covering a meeting organised by the Committee to Support Iraq. The meeting was held at the Mohammed V Theatre in Rabat. The journalist was about to take photographs of a brawl between some of the meeting participants when a dozen persons, including Mustapha Essayab and Mohammed Talbi, both journalists with the daily "Al Ahdate Al Maghribia", struck him with some force and threw him out of the room. They also took away his camera. Following the incident, Mahamid decided to file a complaint. He has also been granted a 21-day leave of absence from work. According to the publication director of "Akhbar el Ousbouh", who witnessed the skirmish, the agents from the security service (Direction de la surveillance du territoire, DST) who were present did not intervene. Several journalists from "Al Ahdate Al Maghribia" recently filed complaints against Ali Lmrabet, publication director of the weekly magazine "Demain". This follows "Demain"'s publication of a cartoon in May 2002 in which the author described "Al Ahdate Al Maghribia" as "pornographic." The satirical weekly "Douman" first hit newsstands in November 2002. It is the Arabic version of "Demain" magazine, and is also headed by Lmrabet.