The Criminal Court of the Court of Appeals in Casablanca issued sentences ranging from a year to 20 years of imprisonment for the activists of “Al Hocaima” in northern Morocco, which witnessed a protest movement in October 2016 asking for development and protesting against the accumulation of economic and social problems.
The court sentenced the leader of the protest in a rural area and the northern city of “Al Hocaima” to 20 years of imprisonment. The court also sentenced “Nabil Ahmajik”, “Wissem Boustati” and “Samir Aghid” to 20 years of imprisonment, while it sentenced 15 years of imprisonment for three others ,5 years for seven activists and six people to 10 years of imprisonment.
The court's sentence included three years of imprisonment for 7 activists, two years for 12 accused and a one-year prison sentence for one activist.
These verdicts were considered by human rights activists in Morocco as harsh and repulsive and it would fuel anger in the region which would further exacerbate the tensions.
It is noteworthy that the Morocco's northern countryside protests escalated in October 2016, following the death of the fish seller “Mohsen Fikri”, who was crushed inside a garbage truck while he was trying to take his confiscated fish.
#repressive_verdicts #activists #rural_movement #Morocco
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