Daily director subpoenaed for running anti-monarchy statments

Director of "Aujourd'hui le Maroc" daily, Khalid Hachimi Idrissi, was subpoenaed on Friday by the judiciary police at the request of the Rabat first instance court prosecutor.

The summoning of Hachimi Idrissi, source close to the case said, was made following the publication by "Aujourd'hui le Maroc" of statements by Fathallah Arsalane, spokesman of the banned "Al Adl Wal Ihssane" movement, supporting Nadia yassine, member of the same movement.

Early June, Nadia Yassine told "Al Ousbouâaya Al Jadida" weekly "monarchy is not suitable for Morocco" and that she preferred the republic regime.

She was herself summoned on Friday, June 3. Nadia is daughter of Cheikh Abdessalam Yassine, spiritual leader of the Muslim fundamentalist association (Justice and Charity).

For his part, spokesman of the "Al Adl Wal Ihssane," Fathallah Arsalane, was summoned for voicing support to Nadia's statements.

The cases of Nadia Yassine and Abdelaziz Koukas, Director of the weekly "Al Ousbouâaya Al Jadida," also subpoenaed, will be heard on June 28.

The Moroccan government Spokesman, Nabil Benandellah, affirmed Thursday the statements of the Islamist activist Nadia Yassine are opposite to the "deep beliefs of the Moroccan nation." "It is natural to have recourse to justice when the provisions of the Constitution are violated," he added.

Commenting on this issue, Benabdellah said at a press briefing "the press code is clear and defines responsibilities of persons who make statements, those who publish them, those who print them and those who distribute them."