Complaint filed against a Spanish journalist for insulting Moroccan media

CASABLANCA - The Provisional Commission for the management of affairs of the press and publishing sector in Morocco filed on Monday a complaint with the Federation of Press Associations in Spain against Spanish journalist Francisco Carrión for describing Moroccan journalists and media as "barking dogs" in post on social platform X.

Working for the Spanish daily El Independiente, Carrión conducted an interview with Soulaimane Raissouni, published on September 1. The remarks of Raissouni, who received a royal pardon on July 29, 2024 after being sentenced to five years in prison on July 9, 2021 for “rape with violence and sequestration,” were criticized by several Moroccan journalists in various media.

Some noted that the royal pardon does not call into question the judgment, much less the right of Raissouni's victim to claim the execution of the judgment in its civil part including compensation. Other criticisms were aimed at the content itself of Raissouni's statements, who attacked justice in particular. 

Following Moroccan journalists’ criticism of Raissouni, Carrión reacted on X, with "insulting and offensive" remarks accompanied by a photo of the freed journalist.

The Provisional Commission for the management of affairs of the press and publishing sector filed a complaint against him with the Commission for Arbitration, Complaints and Press Ethics of the Federation of Press Associations in Spain.

The Provisional Commission’s complaint is set to be examined by the Spanish body so that the necessary measures could be taken to provide justice to the Moroccan journalists concerned, in accordance with the code of ethics of the Federation of Press Associations in Spain, which is a member of the International Federation of Journalists, which operates according to a code of ethics to which all its members adhere.