Court: No laws to guarantee freedom of press

The Rabat administrative tribunal said it was not competent to look into the appeal by defense attorneys of the banned weeklies "Le Journal" and "Assahifa."

The court had heard the Moroccan state's case Friday asking it to say it was not competent on grounds the ban decision came from an authority entitled by law to make such decisions and that the plaintiff suffered no material damage.

The weeklies' attorneys, on the other hand, argued saying attributions required to try the case have been transferred from ordinary courts to judges in newly created administrative court. The ban-decision was not taken by the prime minister as provided for by law but by the government in no way entitled to, they said calling for annulment of the decision which caused material prejudice to the titles and their publishing house.