Un informaticien marocain, emprisonné pour avoir créé sur le site internet Facebook un profil au nom du frère de Mohamed VI, a été gracié par le roi et libéré, a annoncé mercredi son avocat.

Fouad Mortada, 26 ans, avait été condamné le 23 février à trois ans de prison et 10.000 dirhams (880 euros) d'amende pour avoir falsifié des informations et usurpé l'identité du prince Moulay Rachid sans son consentement.voir ici

"La libération de Fouad est une victoire pour la justice et la liberté", a commenté son avocat Ali Ammar. "Le roi a fait ce que le tribunal aurait dû faire en premier".

I think not.

The Royal pardon, while a welcome positive development of the tragic miscarriage of justice that landed Fouad Mourtada in Jail, does not exonerate him. It is not a reform of the judicial system; it does not address the fundamental flaws plaguing it. The police still operate with the same refractory “lead years” mindset that reasoned Fouad’s youth impetuousness into a crime. The overly sycophantic judges and prosecutors are still using the same retrograde principles and approaches in their interpretation of the law and justice. The corrective process through which Moroccans can redress such judicial flaws as they might happen is non-existent. The establishment of a system that will allow the checking and balancing of unfairly rendered judgments is necessary. The quiddity of Justice is a system that fairly serves the people and not obsequiousness to its political masters. And a Royal pardon is not it.

I am overjoyed that Fouad is finally free, but I am saddened his freeing is been used by Moroccan autocrats as a false banner of justice in the Kingdom.

Ahmed T. B. Copyright © 2008

Here is a book I would like to recommend to the prosecutor who indicted Fouad Mourtada on charges of identity theft because he created a fake Facebook profile of HRH Prince Moulay Rachid and the Kafkaesque judge who sentenced him to three years of prison. It is Charles Baxter’s latest and by far his best novel since he started publishing in 1987. The title is “THE SOUL THIEF.” The story tackles the issue of identity and its ownership as the life of a tepid protagonist, graduate student Nathaniel Mason, collides with fellow student Jerome Coolberg’s. The latter is described as a psychopathic attention-seeking and disconcerting individual who becomes obsessed by the persona of Nathaniel. He insidiously, yet cunningly, starts incorporating details of Nathaniel’s life into his own life history; with the complicity of a friend named Theresa, he even hired a thief to break into his room and steal his clothes; he would later put them on and strut in front of Nathaniel mimicking his mannerisms not in a comedic way, but rather seriously. Nathaniel finally succumbs to a breakdown. It takes him thirty years to recover his soul which he feels it was “mortgaged.” In those thirty years, he becomes a family man, married with two sons. One day, out of the blue, he receives a call from Coolberg who is now a famous radio personality.

What I liked about this novel is the fact that Baxter crafted the character of Coolberg in such a way that he is the essence of the story. Nathaniel, the identity theft victim, is a pale and unimpressive shadow of a character that blends into the background. Why would Coolberg be interested in such an apathetic man is a mystery. Why would Fouad Mourtada be sentenced to three years is not such a big mystery; I just think the judge and the prosecutor do not know the definition of “identity theft.” I understand they might get queasy just thinking about reading a book that is not in their official reading list which I doubt they ever stray away from without an approval from the temerarious voice in the telephone, but I think it would do them good. It’ll take their minds off the sepulchral gloom pervading their lives … if they have any. The true victim here is Fouad; he is literally robbed of his life.

Ahmed T. B. Copyright © 2008

Free Fouad Mourtada

Fouad Mourtada, ingénieur en informatique marocain, lauréat de la prestigieuse école Mohammadia des ingénieurs (EMI) a été arrêté le 5 février, torturé puis jugé, le 22 février à Casablanca.Fouad Mourtada a été condamné à trois ans de prison fermes et une amende de 10 000 dirhams pour avoir créé un profil Facebook prince Moulay Rachid, le frère du roi du Maroc.

Soutenir Fouad, c'est aider à le faire sortir d'une prison qu'il ne mérite pas, mais aussi se prononcer pour un Maroc dont le nouveau règne a posé l'horizon : celui des droits de l'homme et de l'état de droit.

Infos et pétition :
www.helpfouad.com/

Groupe de soutien sur Facebook :
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=104272121 96

Soutien de Larbi :
http://www.larbi.org/

Soutien des Humains Associés :
www.humains-associes.org/blog/2008/02/29 /fouadmourtada/

Photos sur Flickr :
http://www.flickr.com/photos/katjato/sets/72157604026106823

Fouad Mourtada a été condamné à trois ans de prison fermes et une amende de 10 000 dirhams pour avoir créé un profil Facebook prince Moulay Rachid, le frère du roi du Maroc.

Soutenir Fouad, c'est aider à le faire sortir d'une prison qu'il ne mérite pas, mais aussi se prononcer pour un Maroc dont le nouveau règne a posé l'horizon : celui des droits de l'homme et de l'état de droit.

www.helpfouad.com/>Infos et pétition

Groupe de soutien sur Facebook

Soutien des Humains Associés

I was asked by fellow bloggers commenting on my post on the plight of Fouad Mourtada the following hauntingly simple question: why don’t Moroccans, instead of fleeing toward more favorable horizons, change their situation from within Morocco?  

I advocate the idea that Moroccan citizens should be empowered at all levels to implement constructive change consented upon by a majority of the citizenry through legislative and political venues. The process should be outlined and guaranteed by the Moroccan constitution. The concept is not a novelty. Its proponents are not all Western intellectuals and politicians. Moroccan and Arab intellectuals have been promoting the notion that reform should be spawned from within since Gamal Abdelnasser led the Egyptian revolution in 1952. Two of Abdelnasser’s disciples, permeated by his fervent Arab nationalism, also succeeded in drastically changing the political landscape of their countries from within: Saddam, who took over in Iraq in 1979 (the nationalistic Ba'ath party to which he belonged governed since 1968) and Qaddafi, who has been the de facto president of Libya since his coup d’état in 1969. There are other examples of change happening from within in the Arab world; in Sudan for instance, civil disobedience led to the toppling of despotic governments twice: October 21,1964 and April 6, 1985.  Those changes were violent and revolutionary, but never yielded a long lasting democracy; the new leaders' oppression of their constituents was ruthless and unrelenting. Another politician who was inspired by Abdelnasser’s Pan-Arabism, but aspired to apply those ideas at the African level, and who believed in the idea of “change from within,” was Mehdi Ben Barka.   

In our pursuit of democratic reform in our Arab states, how much change are the governments willing to tolerate before recoiling to their erstwhile despotic selves?  

A “change from within” in Saddam’s Baathist regime was a laughable concept. Syria’s government, thanks to its horrendous secret service, is fairly impervious to internal dissent. Libya’s Popular Committees are an autocratic tool used for political repression. Political opposition is non-existent in the Gulf States. In Egypt, where the government is cracking down on political opposition – religious and secular, Mubarak seems intent on bequeathing power to his son. Jordan and Morocco’s democracies are masqueraded before Western nations while backstage tremendous pressure is exerted on political parties and the opposition is constantly discredited. There is not, nor has there ever been, a single democratic Arab government, ever. The Arab governments do allow, albeit reluctantly, a measure of change, but when that change challenges the very existence of the governing power, the deal is off.  

One of the principle tenets of democracy is the provision of a broader and more open debate to expose myths to scrutiny and extreme ideas to rebuttal. Within Arab countries, such a debate is weighed down by caveats. In Morocco, for instance, the Monarchy and the constitutional principles pertaining to it are not debatable even within the parliament; neither are trade policies, national security, and foreign affairs. Any representative of the people or government official is at risk of being removed, any political party dissolved and banned, any journalist imprisoned and fined. Autocratic Arab governments are challenged by democracy as it manifests itself through different forms. The internet and satellite TV, as vehicles of information, are considered a threat. In a flagrant violation of article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 32 of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to information and freedom of expression, the Arab Ministers of Information convened in Cairo, Egypt, on February 12, 2008, and adopted a charter entitled “Principles for Organizing Satellite TV in the Arab World.” The charter, which was endorsed by all members of the Arab League except for Qatar and Lebanon, calls on the satellite TV broadcasting organizations to, among other things, desist criticizing “the leaders and national and religious symbols in the Arab World.” It urges the signatories to employ all measures in their national legislations to fully enforce its principles. This, in my opinion, should revive within the Arab nations the hoariest of political and intellectual debates.  

The autocratic Arab leaders, who expect the citizen to serve the ruler, justify such brazen encroachments of basic human rights and absolve themselves of responsibility by intensifying the national perception of internal and external threats that may not be, if at all real, as imminent. It is true that successive drought years, wars, and sanctions are serious social, political, and economic setbacks, but the inability to recover is solely the result of deleterious decisions and ostensible policies implemented by the leadership: pure and simple mismanagement and misallocation by corrupt politicians engaging in the conflation of business and politics at the detriment of the people.   

I believe that one of the greatest impediments to progress and democracy in the Arab world is the lack of accountability by the regimes. In fact, a 2002 Arab Development Report by the UN found that the lowest value for “voice and accountability” in the world is in the Arab countries. Throughout contemporary history, the Arab’s misfortunes were never the fault of the leadership, but rather consequences of divine ordinance, internal disloyalty, or foreign plots. Faced with their impotence to hold a failing incumbent to account and a stagnant and corrupt governments whose actions prove that their commitment to liberty and respect for the dignity of human beings is tapering Arabs  have turned toward Islamic radicals. In recent years, candidates associated with Islamic parties have achieved considerable success in parliamentary elections. It is a bad change, but a change nonetheless. The Islamic parties are no better; people understand that once an Islamic party is elected democratically, it will abuse the system to remain in power.      

The rise of Islamic militancy is an undeniable national security concern, but it is not a reason to curtail civil liberties, human rights, and stymie the democratic process. The Arab regimes are doing just that. They peddle to the U.S. and the European Union, which would rather scurry off for the illusory stability only an oppressive regime could provide, the jaundiced notion that the Islamist terrorist threat is a prime reason why the pursuit of political change should be indefinitely put on hold. The Western nations, by backing governments that never benefited from the blessing of their own people, are silent co-conspirators in the aggravation of the Arabs’ quandary.        

If the Moroccan government values its standing with the Moroccan people, its support for democratic reform ought to be unwavering, its openness to debate unrestricted. A functioning democracy requires more than just a free election; it is a framework within which an elected government can operate to serve its constituency while being protected from pressures by internal interests, be them ethnic, religious, or political, and external ones. We should be mindful that in a democracy, Islamist parties will be an integral part in the political dynamics, the extreme right will have its adherents, and that the liberal secularists will have their say. Cultural and social reformations have to be a priority. In a country where citizens are still struggling with the complex vicissitudes of their turbulent times, where inflation is persistent, unemployment rampant, illiteracy high, access to adequate housing and other productive resources restricted, human rights and civil liberties violated, and history whitewashed, a change from within unanswered from without will remain unattainable.

Puedes solidarizarte con Fouad en el sitio Help Free Fouad o acudiendo a algunas de las concentraciones convocadas para hoy sábado, 1 de marzo. En Madrid, entre las 14:00 y las 17:00 frente a la Embajada de Marruecos.

De paso conviene hacer sacar conclusiones. Las redes sociales 2.0, las empresas chchis de internet con sus logos de coloritos y su buen rollismo como marca no de jan de ser eso, empresas, y si para mantener el negocio hay que delatar a un usuario, pues se hace.

Así que cuidado con el activismo que haces por la red y donde lo haces... el gran hermano te vigila.

First -- the new show -- http://www.theworld.org/pod/tech/WTP-podcast186.mp3

Then -- Amplifico! 

And then -- here are all the links sent to me by Helena Zinkham regarding the Library of Congress and Flickr's pilot project.

BASIC LINKS:

* LC's account in Flickr,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/
* FAQs, http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/flickr_pilot_faq.html

* 1930s-40s in color:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157603671370361/

* News in the 1910s:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157603624867509/

PHOTOS WE TALKED ABOUT:

Haystacks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2178331373/

International photo from 1910s (Photo is London strike, with debate over
date) http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2162645983/

Baseball player with camera:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2162646403

African American 'rosie the riveter' - -new understanding of history in
the comments
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179038448

Tags in multiple languages (Photo is "Rebels eating tortillas")
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2163460290/

Appreciation, humor, new historical information combined (Photo shows a
phosphate furnace that reminded one user of an early internet; another
of safety concerns; new info about the plant and how it got power)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2179139231/
And here's the Harry Lamin blog.

Have a great weekend.

Il a biensur fait appel a cette décision; des manifestations ont eu lieu et un comité de soutien s'est mis en place.

Sa seule defense: "Ce n'était qu'une plaisanterie". Il était loin de se douter des consequences de ses actes et bien que la tolérance au Maroc se soit accrue au fil des années on voit que subsistent certaines choses avec lesquelles on ne rigole pas.

Le procureur réclame en outre "un châtiment exemplaire".

Lire l'article complet

Source: L'Express.fr

Fouad Mourtada un jeune internaute marocain frappé et condamné à 3 ans de PRISON FERME pour avoir simplement crée un compte Facebook avec un autre nom que le sien… celui de du prince Moulay Rachid, l'un des fréres du roi Mohamed 6,

En plus de la peine de prison ferme, le jeune Marocain a écopé d’une amende de 10000 dirhams (environ 880 euros). Son avocat a annoncé que la famille va bien entendu faire appel de cette décision.

il a été arrêté le 5 février par la police, puis aurait été torturé plusieurs heures. « J’ai été persécuté, roué de coup, de gifles, crachats et insultes. On m’a aussi frappé pendant des heures avec un appareil sur la tête et sur les jambes » a-t-il confié à sa famille venue lui rendre visite en prison.

Vous pouvez signer la pétition demandant la libération de Fouad Mourtada sur le site. http://www.helpfouad.com/1001.html

People migrated en masse to Facebook from other websites. These same people cried that, while Facebook was sleeker and easier to use, it was too simple and boring. They wanted more interaction, more of a reason to spend hours on a site that wasn't created with the purpose of entertaining. As a result, applications and widgets were added. Voila, Facebook became MySpace 2.0.

How did Facebook go so quickly from being the greatest new site on the web, the anti-MySpace, to a MySpace equivalent? The greatest irony of all lies in the article itself, which boasts of millions of dollars being invested in the many new features of the site. The features in question, though, are the destroyers of the sleek and secure design Facebook once had. Suddenly hundreds of outside businesses have access to millions of people via Facebook. Every application on the site asks to access your profile information before you can use it. That in itself should be a hint that everything is not quite as it seems. Advertisements now appear literally everywhere.

Even worse, Facebook is now getting the negative vibe previously only associated with MySpace. Millions of users in the U.K. have fled the site after a rash of criminal trials used Facebook profile items as courtroom evidence. People had accepted that MySpace was open to the public, but Facebook was supposed to be the more private of the two, only for the your own eyes and the eyes of those you allowed access to your profile. Instead, it turns out Facebook is just another risky, potentially life-changing network.

Big news right now is the Moroccan Fouad Mourtada facing three years in prison for creating a profile of the younger brother of the Moroccan king. Creating profiles of stars and celebrities is already a common practice around the world. As a result, prominent Moroccan bloggers are showing solidarity by posting the following text on the blogs:

Today, Tuesday, February 19, is the fourteenth day of Fouad Mourtada's imprisonment. He committed the error, but not the crime, of creating a Facebook account in the name of Prince Moulay Rachid. This account contained no insults against the Prince nor was it the instrument of any swindling attempts. His name was immediately given wide publicity by the authorities, in breach of the presumption of innocence he's supposed to enjoy, and he alleges having been beaten and mishandled during his arrest. He initially had trouble finding a lawyer willing to defend him. The trial, due to begin on February 15, has been postponed to February 22, while his habeas corpus application has been rejected.

(…)

For this reason, this blog will be on strike on Tuesday, 19 February as a gesture of solidarity with Fouad Mourtada and the other prisoners of opinion currently jailed in Morocco.

Fouad, a 26 years old engineer with so much potential, so much to offer to Morocco sits rotting in a jail for exercising bad judgment. Three years is an excessive sentence for a conduct that could have been considered at worst a misdemeanor, since no criminal intent was established. Fouad should have been fined and set free. I am well aware that the Moroccan constitution prohibits criticism of the royal family. This hardly qualifies as a criticism; in fact, Fouad, in his testimony before the judge (misjudge), stated that he created the Facebook profile in reverence of His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid. The King's brother is a public figure and as such should be prepared for such an eventuality as the one highlighted by the Facebook affair. A Facebook profile is not a Carte D’identité National; I am not aware of any business or administrative transaction in which a Facebook profile is used as proof of identity. The REAL ISSUE here is that internet users elsewhere around the world are guaranteed more freedoms than we are in Morocco. Yes! Fouad bit more than he could chew on, but the reaction of the Moroccan justice system is a travesty. The point behind the verdict is not to serve justice, but to set precedence; to make an example of Fouad. This is an indicator that the Moroccan criminal justice system (in this case the injustice system) is still archaic and in need of serious reform. Fouad’s generation indeed is left without illusion about the ubiquity of injustice in Morocco; they got the message; this is not a country where they feel they will prosper; this is not a government they feel they can coordinate the betterment of their country with; they feel now that this is not a justice system that is designed to protect the citizen. The government is sending a loud and clear message to the Moroccan internet community and this is it: Blog all you want, but mind your own business (dkhoul souk rassek); if you don't, we will get you. I hear the hollow sound of Hassan II's voice.  

I know what you are thinking Fouad, sitting in that dark and damp hole. I know what your mind’s eye is looking at. You are looking past those mountains, across the Strait, into that land they call Sbania. It may not be your salvation, but it’s a land of many opportunities, and - why not say it? - justice. Facebook does have quite a few profiles of the Spanish Royal family, but no one is being detained for it. Why not? you may ask. IT IS NOT A CRIME. I know! I know!  You wish you were living in Sebta or Melilla; this wouldn’t have happened to you for sure. You are not feeling this injustice alone Fouad; thousands of Moroccans your age do too. Everyday, they are braving insurmountable obstacles while crossing into Europe in their quest for a better future. Is this a dream worth dying for? They think it is.

Fulfill the dream, free man.

Ahmed T. B. Copyright © 2008

It's really hard being a lobbyist these days.

Assistance have been pouring in Paraguay after a recent outbreak of yellow fever. France, the US and neighboring Brazil have all sent aid in the form of vaccines. There is some 300,000 people at risk, and previous stocks of vaccines have run dry.

A Moroccan blogger, Fouad Mourtada, who created a fake Facebook profile of a prince has been sentenced to 3 years in prison. Citing some oppressive law and egoistic princely attitude, the prosecutors wanted to create some sort of warning to those who might attempt similar harmless acts.
It's simply barbaric what they did to him. Apart from being completely detached from the virtual world where dozens of false profiles of celebrities, politicians and public figures have been created to relatively harmless effect, the Moroccans authorities again show their blatant disregard for media protection and civil liberties.

I've recalled my chargé d'affaires from Iraqi Kurdistan after the recent incursion by the Turkish armed forces. I've since relocated my chargé d'affaires, Mouley Rashid Mohammad VI, to the safer Iraqi capital, Baghdad. After all, my old friend Muqtada al-Sadr has just renewed the ceasefire.

I hate his hair.

It's really hard not to be cynical when you see the drama and despair all around us these days. Maybe not cynical but perhaps apathetic towards world affairs.
But it's the hope that tomorrow can be a good day that drives people the world over to continue living despite tragic circumstances.
And it is that sort of attitude that we in the developed world should not then turn away from those in need.
Every continent seems to be beset with her own fair share of issues. And it makes you wonder how the world especially in the richer countries, have not yet embraced full protectionist policies.

In South America, countries like Brazil and Argentina are facing major energy crises. From major energy pipelines that seem to be mere pipedreams (for now), the continent is entering democratic governments throughout. Yes, even in Venezuela. But with popular uprising even in Bolivia where the indigenous President Evo Morales has been struggling to cope with rising fuel shortages as well as dramatic flooding in many parts of the country. Not to mention the pro-autonomy provinces in the richer parts of the country where much of Bolivia's energy resources like gas, are located.

To the North, but sandwiched between the South and the North, is of course Central America.
A geopolitical region that tends to slant leftwards in favor of anti-US sentiments. From Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega to Cuba's Castro brothers, the region isn't too keen on their powerful neighbors to the North interfering too much given the ambivalent record the US has in the region.

North America is constantly besieged with immigration issues between the Mexican and American sides.
But beyond being big states on a single continent, the three North American states have more issues outside their region than inside their region.

Africa is emerging from dictatorial rule in recent decades, but on that same note, authoritarian regimes still exists. Whether it's Morocco or Equatorial Guinea, dictators still run in the continent. Throw in Zimbabwe, Eritrea, DR Congo and Sudan on a bad mood, and you have more states with dictators than countries in North America.

Europe is trying to unite under one order in the European Union. But a continent twice shattered by wars (not to count the dozens or hundreds between ancient and medieval kingdoms, duchies, and empires), 27 sovereign states are trying to come together yet remain free to decide their own laws and such. Problems may not come out now, but wait till later.
Over in the South, the Balkans is Europe's underachieving cousin. From a single unit from the early 20th century to the 1990s, the Balkans have been enraged with so many different nationalities, that Tito wasn't so bad after all. But with Kosovo becoming the 7th (or is that 8th..?) state to declare independence from the former Yugoslav republic, it's Bosnia-Herzegovina that is the tipping point in the region.

Asia has 53 countries. Well officially according to the UN at least. There is of course states like Taiwan and other secessionist movements not documented so readily.
Throw in major industrialising giants like China and India, and the Next Eleven states like Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia, and you have a continent that is rising and strong. Though it is still up to the continent herself to determine for herself if that economic direction will translate to political and social developments.

And there's Russia, nicely summarised in this page.

The thing is, there is still a sense of uncertainty, not thanks to greedy loaners in the US who will do anything to get a deal out of the anyone on the street.
So let's hope that 2008 will see the slowdown not turn to a recession; the hostility not turn to war; and the hope not turn to despair.

I love the BBC.

sdl2