''Al-Massae'' ( ar, المساء, al-masāʾ, lit=the evening) is a Moroccan daily newspaper. In April 2012, ''

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

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

History and incidents

''Al Massae'' was launched by

Rachid Niny Rachid Niny (born 16 October 1970 in Ben Slimane, Morocco), is a Moroccan journalist, chronicler and editor, and the director of ''Al Massae'', which as of 2012 was Morocco's most popular daily newspaper. He was imprisoned from 28 April 2011 to 28 A ...

, Taoufik Bouachrine, 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, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

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

dirham The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass. Unit of mass The dirham was a un ...

s (560,000

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s) for alleged "

defamation Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

" 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 sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

Ksar el-Kebir El-Ksar el Kebir (Arabic: القصر الكبير; ber, ⵍⵇⵚⵔ ⵍⴽⴱⵉⵔ, lqṣr lkbir) is a city in northwestern Morocco, about 160 km north of Rabat, 32 km east of Larache and 110 km south of Tangier. It recorded a ...

. In November, around 500 persons demonstrated in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

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 Titles * ...

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. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

. 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 it has more than ten million members and sup ...

to designate him a prisoner of conscience.

References

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