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Poking fun is no laughing matter

This cartoon, which appeared in the Moroccan paper Akhbar al Youm last September, nearly cost its creator, Khaled Gueddar, and his editor, Taoufik Bouachrine, a long spell in jail and a fine, plus heavy civil damages. It shows Prince Moulay Ismail, a cousin of King Mohammed VI, with his arm raised in a Nazi-style salute, against a background in which the star of the Moroccan flag looks suspiciously like Israel's Star of David. The Prince, who did not consider this flattering, sued the men and won 3 million dirhams ($380,000) in damages. They were also convicted of "insulting the emblem of the kingdom" and the paper was closed down.

At the end of December, according to AFP, an appeal court in Casablanca confirmed the sentences of a four-year suspended jail sentence and fines of 50,000 dirhams ($6,400) for both men. The prince was subsequently reported as saying he had received an apology and was withdrawing the main charges. The affair, however, illustrates the great sensitivity in Morocco about comment on the royal family. While the country has a good record of press freedom in general, there is no tolerance for criticism of the royal family because of the important role it is deemed to play in holding together the diverse ethnic and religious elements in the country.