The Algerian girlfriend of Head of Qatari Al Jazeera channel is behind the vindictive dismissal of Moroccan presenter Abdessamad Nasser for a tweet defending Moroccan women’s honor tarnished by a smear campaign launched by Algerian state media, officials and hired influencers.
The channel’s decision sparked an outcry because the tweet was posted on his personal account and has nothing to do with Al Jazeera social media platforms.
Moroccan Press Union expressed solidarity with Abdessamad Nasser, saying Al Jazeera’s decision undermines its credibility and violates the press freedom.
The TV channel’s managing director had ordered the Moroccan anchor to remove his tweet or smooth it down to avoid Algerian State’s ire but Nasser refused to back down. He responded that it is a matter of freedom of expression and opinion and has nothing to do with Al Jazeera.
Several Algerian journalists of the channel have posted anti-Moroccan tweets without being bothered or held accountable, leaving everyone scratching their heads in disbelief.
The Moroccan press union has defended the right of journalist Abdessamad Nasser to express his opinions outside the media platforms of his employer, blaming the Algerian pressure and lobby inside the channel for abusive politically-motivated decision, exposing the channel’s double-standard and hypocrisy.
In the same vein, the National Association of Media and Publishers (ANME) said that according to the information available to it, immediately after receiving the arbitrary dismissal decision, “it appeared that the management of Al Jazeera, or at least the entity behind the decision, has adopted the worst approach in managing the relationship of its journalists with social networks, which allow journalists to express their point of view on professional issues, respect and the right to respond to and defend the vital interests of the country to which they belong, without undermining the editorial line of the media in which they work, and respecting professional ethics”.
The Association deemed that it has not been proven that this respectful journalist has crossed the limits of decency, even in the worst situations where some members of the Al Jazeera channel and its subsidiaries specializing in sport have uttered the most abject insults and humiliations towards the Moroccan people, their men, women and institutions (including the royal institution) and their sacred territorial unit.
ANME also criticized “the management of Al Jazeera in its treatment of what other journalists belonging to the Algerian neighbor publish, considering that the decision taken against journalist Nasser is hasty, arbitrary, and a stain on the front of this channel, which enjoys great respect from the Moroccan people, as well as bonds of brotherhood, friendship, cooperation and solidarity with the country from which it emanates.
Regardless of the circumstances, the Association confirms that the Qatari channel erred against colleague Nasser with this biased decision that does not respect the rules of respect and decency, nor professional standards, nor respect for others’ opinions that this channel brandishes as a slogan.
In this regard, the Association announced its absolute and unconditional solidarity with Abdessamed Nasser, expressing the determination of all its members not to limit themselves to simple condemnation, but to fight against this infamous and unjust decision by all means available, legal instruments, both national and international.
The association stressed that attacking any colleague in any channel or media, in Morocco or abroad, is equivalent to attacking the entire journalistic body. It calls for an urgent meeting of its bodies to take decisive action in the next stages of the protest, exposing the conspiracies being hatched in secret against Morocco’s interests through its journalists.
