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Rabat – Salé’s Criminal Court of Appeal rejected on Thursday a request for the interim release of the members of the youth wing of Justice and Development Party (PJD) who were arrested for allegedly praising terrorism.
The detainees will be brought before the judge on June 15. The court in charge of terrorism cases has, however, refused their lawyers’ request for a provisional release.
In late December, five members of the PJD’s youth wing were arrested over Facebook posts considered to have praised the assassination of Russian ambassador to Turkey by a Turkish police officer.
Following their detention, the PJD’s youth wing publicly criticized their colleagues’ detention through several marches and strikes.
The Islamist party’s youth wing described the judge’s decision as a “human rights setback threatening freedom of expression” and a “deterrent to young people” interested in politics.
The five detainees have been prosecuted for inciting terrorism under 218-2 and 218-5 articles of the Criminal Law. Their lawyers demand that their detainees should be judged under the press code.
