By Khaeled Majdoub
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AA): Thousands of people came out in the streets of northern Casablanca city Sunday in protest against the state’s continued detention of rights activists who raised their voice for marginalized Al-Rif region.
Hundreds of activists have been incarcerated in the country since fishmonger Mohsen Fikri died after being crushed by a refuse truck in the flashpoint city of Al-Hoceima on Oct. 28, 2016.
According to one estimate, more than 300 people were being held following what is now known as the Al-Rif Movement that came about following Fikri’s death. Some of the activists in jail are said to be on hunger strike.
During the protest on Sunday, people chanted several slogans “freedom for all detainees” and “people want to fight corruption”, according to an Anadolu Agency reporter at the scene.
Leading figures in the opposition movement known as Hirak will go on trial Oct. 17 in Casablanca. No trial date has been set for the movement’s leader, Nasser Zefzafi — arrested in June after a dramatic manhunt
The Moroccan government maintains that the solution to the crisis is through political and developmental means.
Additional report by The Muslim News
[Photo: Another protest held in Rabat protesting against Israeli delegation, who are in the city to attend an international symposium hosted by Morocco’s House of Counsellors, in front of the Parliament building in Rabat, Morocco on October 08, 2017. Photographer: Jalal Morchidi/AA]
