Morocco: Two magazines banned over king opinion poll

Published August 2nd, 2009 - 07:10 GMT

Two Moroccan weekly magazines were taken off news stands on Saturday after they published an opinion poll on the performance of King Mohammed VI in the past decade, officials said. TelQuel and Nichane published the poll that was conducted with France's Le Monde newspaper on the first decade of the monarch's reign.

 

According to Morocco's communications minister, Le Monde will not be allowed to sell any edition with the poll.

 

The poll coincided with the celebrations on Thursday of the 10th anniversary of Mohammed's accession to the throne. According to AFP, Le Monde is expected to publish the poll in its Tuesday edition. Communications Minister Khalid Naciri warned that any Le Monde edition with a poll on the Moroccan king would not be sold in the country.

 

The Interior Ministry said TelQuel and Nichane were seized for violating the kingdom's media code.