Last night, Hamid El Mahdaoui published footage from a session of the ethics committee of the Provisional Commission in charge of supervising press and publishing on his YouTube channel. The session concerned the review of his application for a press card. The release of these recordings quickly prompted a reaction from the Justice and Development Party (PJD). In a statement issued Friday, the party's general secretariat called for «an urgent judicial investigation into this recording and the serious information it contains». The PJD also expressed its «solidarity with journalist Hamid El Mahdaoui in light of the inappropriate and humiliating treatment he faced». The party further urged the Akhannouch government to «withdraw the draft law on the National Press Council from the House of Councillors until the results of the judicial investigation are made public». Meanwhile, Fatima Tamni, an MP from the Federation of the Democratic Left (FDG), submitted a written question to Youth, Culture, and Communication Minister Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid on Friday evening. She is calling for «a thorough and impartial investigation and for legal and administrative sanctions to be imposed on all those involved in this abuse of power». As a reminder, the Provisional Commission responsible for managing press and publishing affairs had rejected El Mahdaoui's request for a press card on the grounds that he failed to prove journalism was his primary source of income. That decision was upheld on appeal by the Administrative Court of Appeal in Rabat on September 16, 2025.
