''Al-Massae'' () is a Moroccan daily newspaper. In April 2012, ''

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

'' described it as "the country's most popular daily".

History and incidents

''Al Massae'' was launched by Rachid Niny,

Taoufik Bouachrine Taoufik Bouachrine (; born 1969, Meknes) is a Moroccan journalist and editor. In 2005 he was editor-in-chief of ''al-Jarida al-Oukhra'' which was founded by Ali Anouzla and was banned in 2006. In September 2006, he co-founded the popular daily '' ...

, Samir Chaouki and Mohamed Aslifi in September 2006.Morocco
''The Arab Press Network''. Retrieved 21 January 2013. The paper is an independent publication and has no affiliation to the government or any political party. It is based in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

. In October 2008, its publisher and editor Rachid Niny was condemned to pay 6,120,000

dirham The dirham, dirhem or drahm is a unit of currency and of mass. It is the name of the currencies of Moroccan dirham, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates dirham, United Arab Emirates and Armenian dram, Armenia, and is the name of a currency subdivisi ...

s (560,000

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s) for alleged "

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

" and "public injury" for a November 2007 article about the presence of an unnamed judge at an alleged

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

Ksar el-Kebir Ksar el-Kebir (), also known as al-Qasr al-Kabir, is a city in northwestern Morocco, about north of Rabat, east of Larache and south of Tangier. It recorded a population of 126,617 in the 2014 Moroccan census. The name means "the big castle ...

. In November, around 500 persons demonstrated in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

against the government and supporting freedom of expression and information. In December, Niny was condemned again to pay 620,000 dirhams for alleged "defamation" and "public injury", accused by the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

of Rabat

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

. This high sanctions compromised the continued publication of the newspaper. In June 2011, Rachid Niny was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for "disinformation" following his criticism of Moroccan intelligence agencies. The sentence led

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

to designate him a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massae Newspapers published in Morocco Newspapers established in 2006 2006 establishments in Morocco Arabic-language newspapers Mass media in Casablanca