Moroccan Independent Newspaper Akhbar Al Yaoum Shuts Down Amid Financial Struggles

This announcement was made on Sunday by the owner of the newspaper Toufik Bouachrine, who was arrested on February 23, 2018 and incarcerated in the Casablanca prison, and then convicted in particular of "human trafficking," "abuse of power for sexual purposes," "rape and attempted rape." On the Facebook page of the Media21 group, owner of Akhbar al-Yaoum, it was explained that the suspension of the newspaper’s publication is due to economic reasons.

The former editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Younes Masskine, finds it hard to believe it. He denounces "internal sabotage" and mentions "cash flow problems that the newspaper could overcome." He claims that the newspaper’s management "had enough bank resources to guarantee the next payroll of the newspaper’s employees and ensure its own sustainability."

In a statement, the union office of the newspaper denounces an "incomprehensible" decision, taken "suddenly and without notice." Economic reasons? For them, these are "weak excuses that deprive journalists of their rights, and who have sacrificed themselves for nearly three years for the daily to continue to appear." The employees of Akhbar al-Yaoum "were promised that they would be paid," but "their salary arrears and their administrative status with the CNSS have not been settled due to the mismanagement of the management team," the office deplores.

The office also denounces Asma Bouachrine’s refusal "to sit at the negotiating table in order to find a solution for the payment of the full salaries of the company’s employees, knowing that she has not communicated with the workers since she took over the management of the newspaper." It calls on the relevant authorities to "submit the finances of Media 21 to a financial audit, in order to detect the administrative and financial imbalances that have put more than 50 families in a precarious situation."