Front Polisario Khat al-Shahid is a minor faction within the Front Polisario. It is based in the Sahrawi refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria, but also claims to have supporters and members in the Sahrawi diaspora in Mauritania, Morocco, Spain, France and various European countries, as well as in the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara.
Ahmed Boukhari is a Moroccan former agent of Cab-1, the political cell of the DST. He claims to have taken part in the operation that masterminded the abduction and liquidation of Mehdi Ben Barka, and is as such one of the last surviving possible witnesses in the Benbarka Affair.
Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco is the first cousin of the current King Mohammed VI and Prince Moulay Rachid. He is the son of Prince Moulay Abdallah of Morocco, the late brother of former King Hassan II, and Princess Lalla Lamia Solh, daughter of Riad Al Solh, the first Prime Minister of Lebanon. He is also the cousin of Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, whose mother Mona Al Solh is another daughter of the Lebanese family. Under the Moroccan constitution, Moulay Hicham stands fifth in the line of succession to the Alaouite throne.
Le Journal Hebdomadaire was a French-language, Moroccan weekly magazine, published between 1997 and 2010. It was cofounded by Aboubakr Jamaï, who also co-founded its Arabic-language counterpart, Assahifa Al Ousbouia.
Morocco became a highly repressive country under the absolute monarchy of King Hassan II, and continues to be considered repressive under the reign of King Mohammed VI, though the latter has instituted some reforms. Dozens of journalists, artists, and ordinary citizens are regularly sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for exercising basic rights enjoyed elsewhere in the world, such as freedom of the press, protesting the government, or criticizing government officials. Morocco heavily restricts basic human rights, such as freedom of speech, the right to assembly, and the right to criticize officials. Moroccans also feel the pressures of inflation within the country, such as the lack of basic services like healthcare, clean water, and the difficulty of parents to access quality education for their children. While there have been a handful of reforms that have been generally welcomed internationally, most Moroccans feel this is insufficient, and continue to be unhappy with the trajectory of the country under the policies of King Mohammed VI, despite his transition of the government to an ostensible constitutional monarchy. Under his father, King Hassan II, Morocco had one of the worst human rights records in Africa and the world, especially during the time period known as the "Years Of Lead", which lasted from the early 1960s until the late 1980s; it was a period in the country's history that was known for the brutal repression of political dissent and opposition, that involved wide-scale arrests, arbitrary detention, lengthy imprisonment, and even killings of political opponents. Currently, Morocco continues to face some of these issues, as well as other human rights problems, such as poor prison conditions, the mistreatment of women and the LGBT community, and the widespread use of torture by police. Despite the considerable improvements made in the last several years under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, who has rolled back some of his father's harshest decrees, repression of political dissidence, and torture of citizens by officials, is still commonplace in Morocco today.
Nichane was a Moroccan weekly arabophone and darijophone news magazine.
Ahmed Reda Benchemsi is a Moroccan journalist. He is the founder and was the publisher and editor of TelQuel and Nichane magazines.
Philippe Servaty is a Belgian journalist who formerly worked for Brussels-based newspaper Le Soir. While in Morocco from 2002 to 2005, he engaged in sex with over 80 Moroccan women, promising to take them to Belgium. Before leaving for Belgium, he asked them for sexual photos as souvenirs and photographed them in poses that could be seen as degrading. They included ejaculating on the face of a veiled woman and having another woman kneel, bound, and gagged while he urinated on her. After returning to Belgium, he published the photos on the internet under the pseudonym 'Belguel'.
Lamalif was a monthly Moroccan political and cultural magazine published in French between 1966 and 1988.
Moroccan Ladies is a monthly women's magazine published in Arabic, English, and French in Casablanca, Morocco.
The Moroccan protests are a series of demonstrations across Morocco which occurred from 20 February 2011 to the fall of 2012. They were inspired by other protests in the region. The protests were organized by the 20 February Movement.
Aboubakr Jamaï is a Moroccan journalist and banker, and was the publisher of the newspapers Le Journal Hebdomadaire and Assahifa al-Ousbouiya. In 2003, he was awarded the International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Mounir Majidi is a Moroccan businessman. He has been the personal secretary of King Mohammed VI since 2000 and president of the royal holding, SIGER, since 2002. He is also the president of Maroc Culture, the organization behind the Mawazine festival, of the Fath Union Sport (FUS) Rabat, of the Mohammed VI soccer academy, and of the Cheikh Zaid hospital's foundation.
Ali Anouzla is a Moroccan journalist, known for his critical articles of King Mohammed VI's rule. Since December 2010 he has been the editor-in-chief of the online media platform Lakome, which he co-founded along with Aboubakr Jamaï. Lakome was most notably behind the uncovering of the Daniel Galván scandal in which Mohammed VI was found to have pardoned, as a gesture "demonstrating good relations between him and King Juan Carlos I of Spain" a Spanish serial child rapist sentenced to 30 years in Morocco of which he spent only a year and a half. The scandal led to unprecedented spontaneous demonstrations against the Moroccan monarch in early August 2013. On 17 September 2013, Ali Anouzla was arrested in a raid against his home in Rabat, officially for having linked to an El Pais article which contained a video allegedly posted by AQIM and hosted on the website of the Spanish newspaper. He was later charged with "Knowingly providing material assistance to terrorists acts". Many observers saw this as a revenge for the Daniel Scandal episode.
Samira Sitail is a Moroccan journalist and important figure in the country's first broadcasting channel 2M TV, where she holds the position of "Director of Information" since May 2001. She entertains close relations with Fouad Ali El Himma, the influential friend and advisor of Mohammed VI.
The General Directorate for Studies and Documentation is the foreign intelligence agency of Morocco, under authority of the Administration for National Defense. It is officially tasked with maintaining national security and the safety of national institutions.
The General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance, is the internal intelligence agency of the Moroccan state. It is tasked with the monitoring of potentially subversive domestic activities.
Omar Radi is a Moroccan investigative journalist and human rights activist. He has worked at Lakome, Atlantic Radio, Media 24, TelQuel and Le Desk and volunteered for the citizen media Mamfakinch, focusing on investigations about human rights, corruption and social movements. He was detained in Casablanca on 26 December 2019 for criticizing a judge in a tweet posted six months earlier. His arrest triggered a movement of solidarity among his sympathizers. He was handed a suspended four-month prison sentence, a verdict criticized by some NGOs and human rights groups.
Hespress is an Arabic-language Moroccan online news website, founded in February 2007. As of 2015, Hespress is the most popular news website in the country.
Meryem Alaoui is a Moroccan novelist, entrepreneur, communication and marketing expert, best known her debut novel Straight from the Horse’s Mouth, 2020.
