Moroccan Comedian Says Censorship Is No Joke

Satirist spotlights rights record at Morocco festival|Reuters.com

Ahmed Snoussi is protesting censorship at the Marrakesh Film Festival, Reuters reports:

Ahmed Snoussi, known as Bziz, is popular with millions of Moroccans, even though he said the state had excluded him from its radio and television stations, and theatres, since 1988. The government says he is not banned or censored.

"I'm telling the festival guests that the event they are attending is a fake setting that is unable to veil the real plight of freedom of thought, opinion and press in Morocco," he told Reuters by telephone from the Marrakech Cinema Festival which opened on Friday.

The Moroccan Human Rights Association confirmed the existence of the restrictions on Bziz's performances.