Rabat – As the trial of Nasser Zefzafi resumed on Tuesday, the lawyer for Hirak detained protesters Isaac Charia has accused Ilyas El Omari, the president of Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima region, of inciting Hirak movement protesters to “commit serious acts” against Morocco, reported Moroccan media.
According to Moroccan news outlet Media24, Charia told the judge that his “client [Nasser Zefzafi] told me that El Omari had contacted him many times, inciting him and other Hirak activists to conspire against King Mohammed VI and the country.”
The lawyer said that Zefzafi refused El Omari’s alleged requests. Chaira did not respond to Morocco World News’ request for comment.
The lawyer asked the judge to ensure the validity of his allegations from Zefzafi himself. Charia added that he is ready to accept all measures to be taken against him by the judge and the public prosecutor if his statement are proven wrong.
Charia urged the court to summon El Omari, who is also the General Secretary of Authenticity and Modernity Party, for further investigation.
Since October 2016, El Omari and other members of the former government have passed around the blame for the deterioration of Al Hoceima and the whole region, as his party was unable to calm tensions in the region where protests continued for over nine months.
The demonstrations erupted in the Rif last year after the death of Mouhcine Fikri, a local fishmonger who was crushed in a garbage truck.
After being postponed due to the presence of media, for a second time for the unruly behavior of the defendants during the hearing, the criminal chamber of Casablanca’s appeal court decided on Tuesday to delay the Hirak activists trial to November 21.
During the hearing, Zefzafi contested the presence of local media cameras by chanting slogans in the room. According to the Attorney General, Zefzafi was expelled “after disrupting the hearing by speaking without permission,” telling the Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) that “the judge of the court later allowed the others accused to leave the courtroom at their request.”
After their involvement in the social movement in the Rif region in the north of Morocco, the activists are facing numerous charges, including “undermining the State’s domestic security, sabotaging, killing and looting, accepting money and other material means to fund propaganda meant to prejudice Morocco’s unity and sovereignty, shaking citizens’ loyalty towards the Moroccan State and institutions, organizing unauthorized protest and holding unauthorized public rallies,” according to the court.
