Channel 2, Dozim, decided to suspend journalist Wadih Dada from presenting news bulletins and relieve him of his duties as editor-in-chief, starting October 21.
The National Union of the Moroccan Press joined the line after issuing a strongly worded statement, in which it expressed its absolute solidarity with Wadih Dada, and considered targeting him to be a target for union work within the channel.
The union denounced what it described as an “unjust and arbitrary decision,” and stressed that the aim of these practices is to intimidate journalists and prevent them from joining the union.
The union’s statement added that the timing of Dada’s arrest message had no explanation other than an attempt to intimidate more than a hundred male and female journalists within the channel, in an act described as reckless, and called on officials within the channel to assume their responsibilities and open an urgent investigation.
The union also confirmed in its report its readiness to wage an open battle against corruption within the channel, and called on the general director and head of the national company to intervene immediately and put an end to these practices that harm the channel’s reputation internally and externally.
The union continued: “These events open the door to serious questions about what is happening inside Channel 2, and about the limits of responsibility and oversight of the practices of some officials who appear to be exploiting their positions to settle personal scores.”
The decision to arrest journalist Wadih Dada comes shortly after the formation of the coordination of the National Union of the Moroccan Press at Channel 2, which made the union describe the decision as “retaliatory.”
