Misuse of photo of Casablanca crime by "Antena 3", 'serious professional mistake', Belgian lawyer

Brussels - The use by ''Antena 3'' of a photo of the Casablanca crime scene, claiming it was taken during Laayoune events, is a "s

Brussels - The use by 'Antena 3' of a photo of the Casablanca crime scene, claiming it was taken during Laayoune events, is a "serious professional mistake", said, on Wednesday in Brussels, Pierre Legros, the Belgian lawyer who represents the Rachidi family

    During a press conference, organized by Belgian and Moroccan lawyers representing the people who were subject of false information spread by Spanish media outlets on Laayoune events, Legros voiced his outrage against the deliberate exploitation of a photo of murdered people to mislead the public opinion.

    This act, which is against the ethics of journalism and lacks respect for a dead person, hurts everyone who is close to this issue, the lawyer underlined, recalling that elementary professional rules require the authentication of the sources of information.

    For his part, lawyer Abdelkebir Tabih, who represents the Rachdi family in Morocco, underscored that the publication of this photo is a "flagrant" violation of the petitioners' rights by the Spanish media outlets, which "deliberately" falsified reality and hurt the family and the entire Moroccan people.

     This maneuver did not only hurt the Rachdi family but was also the motive behind the anti-Moroccan demonstration in Spain, the anti-Morocco decision taken the Spanish parliament and the resolution adopted by the European Parliament, Tabih added.

    In the same vein, lawyer Abdelfattah Zahrach, who represents El Ghalia Bouasria and Abdesalam Ansari, who were falsely reported dead in the Laayoune unrest by "Europa Presse" agency, said that publishing a news story about the death of his clients is a violation of international human rights charts.

    He stressed that the news story did not only shock family members and friends, but his clients themselves.

    He also voiced "outrage" that the Spanish media did not apologize for falsely reporting that his clients perished in Laayoune events.

    Lawyer Mohamed karam, who represents 'Al Ahdat Al Maghribiya', the Moroccan daily which owns the property rights of the photo, maintained that the newspaper decided to sue 'Antena 3' before the Spanish justice, following this deliberate manipulation.

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Source: MAP