Morocco is one of the countries that detained an unusual number of journalists in 2017, according to the recent annual report entitled «Worldwide Round-up of Journalists Killed, Detained, Held Hostage, or Missing in 2017» and issued by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an international NGO that promotes and defends freedom of information and press. While China, Turkey and Vietnam have been mentioned for their poor results, the NGO also points out at Morocco's. «Hamid El Mahdaoui, four citizen-journalists and three media workers are currently held in connection with their coverage of a wave of protests in the northern Rif region since 2016, a highly sensitive issue for the government. A year ago, not a single journalist was detained in Morocco», wrote RSF. For the record, Hamid El Mahdaoui, publishing director of Badil.info, an online newspaper, was sentenced last September by an Al Hoceima Appeal Court to a one-year prison sentence, instead of the initial ruling, three months, pronounced by the court of first instance. In a letter addressed to the public and the international community, he had announced that he started a hunger strike. In its report, Reporters Without Borders announced that 65 journalists were killed, 326 detained, 54 held hostages and 2 missing in 2017. The list includes both professional journalists, media contributors and citizen journalists.
