Rabat – A committee of solidarity with the jailed director of news website Badil, Hamid El Mehdaoui, and other journalists detained during recent protests in Al Hoceima has been established in Rabat.
On Tuesday, a meeting was held in the headquarters of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights (AMDH) announcing the creation of committee of solidarity with El Mehdaoui and other journalist from the northern Moroccan city, arrested for their role in covering the protests in the region, a statement by the committee said.
Veteran journalist Khalid Jamai was elected as the committee’s national coordinator. Members of the committee’s secretariat were also elected.
Among the elected members AMDH’s former presidents Khadija Riadi and Abdelhamid Amine, political analyst Maati Mounjib, journalists Ali Anouzla and Souleiman Raissouni, Islamist opposition group Al Adlwa Al Ihsane’s Hassan Benajeh and writer, former military officer, and detainee during the reign of Hassan II, Ahmed Marzouki.
On July 25, El Mehdaoui was sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of MAD 20,000 for “inciting people to protest” during the July 20 protest March in Al Hoceima.
His supporters refute the charges, saying El Mehdaoui is being persecuted for his vocal criticism of the government.
