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Join on Telegram Rabat – Government spokesperson Mustapha Khalfi has announced that “there are higher instructions [from King Mohammed VI] to medically examine anyone who claims to have been tortured.”
During the government coalition’s weekly meeting held Thursday in Rabat, Khalfi said, “the higher instructions stress the application of the law severely,” adding that the detainees have all the legal guarantee to a fair trial.
In the meeting, Khalfi also said Head of Government Saad Eddine Othmani will visit the region of Al Hoceima in order to boost the development projects that the government announced in response to the demands of the population.
Tensions have grown in the region in the past two weeks following the police’s pursuit and arrest of leading activist Nasser Zafzafi. He was taken to custody on Monday along with many other activists after interrupting a Friday sermon he felt was denouncing the “Hirak” movement, and was transferred to Casablanca for investigation. Zafzafi has been charged with “obstructing the right of worship” and “undermining state security.”
Since the death of Mouhcine Fikri in October 2016, 700 sit-ins have been held in the region of Al Hoceima.
Last week, the government coalition has broken its silence on the “Hirak” movement, stressing demonstrators’ right to protest for ‘legitimate’ social demands.
Zafzafi’s lawyer, Mohammed Ziane has said that Zafzafi has refuted the government’s claims that the protests were motivated by separatism and foreign funding.
The investigating judge of Casablanca’s Court of Appeal ordered Zafzafi and six of the 20 detainees to be placed in Casablanca’s Oukacha prison on Monday evening.
