New York, June 2, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned about the health of Ali Lmrabet, director of two Casablanca-based weeklies, the Arabic-language Douman and its French sister publication, Demain.

Lmrabet, who was sentenced to four years in prison on May 21 for "insulting the king" and "challenging the territorial integrity of the state," was rushed from his prison cell in Sale, near the capital, Rabat, to the Ibn Sina Hospital in Rabat early last week. The journalist has been on a hunger strike since May 6 to protest his continued harassment by Moroccan authorities and his subsequent imprisonment. [Read CPJ's May 21 letter.]