Rabat- Following the Casablanca Court of Appeals’ sentencing of Hirak Rif activists on Tuesday, Al Hoceima’s Court of Instance has appointed new attorneys, judges, and court representatives.
Rabat– Following the Casablanca Court of Appeals’ sentencing of Hirak Rif activists on Tuesday, Al Hoceima’s Court of Instance has appointed new attorneys, judges, and court representatives.
The new judges, appointed Wednesday, are graduates from the Higher Magistrates’ Institute, namely Noureddine Slimani, Mazin Al Qadawi, Hamza Bahour, Abdel Halim A’ad, Anass Kass, Yasser El Wafi, Farid Shawraq, and Mohammed Agmid.
The deputies for the King’s public prosecutor are Imad Ould Al Sharif and Mohamed Al Rakouni.
Casablanca’s Court of Appeals sentenced Hirak leaders Nasser Zefzafi and Nabil Ahemjik, as well as activists Ouassim El Boustati and Samir Ghid, to 20 years in prison.
Zakaria Adehchour, Mohamed Haki, and Mohamed Bouhenouch received 15 years in jail, whereas Mohamed Jelloul, Karim Amghar, Salah Lackham, Omar Bouharass, Bilal Ahaddad, Jamal Bouhaddou, and Achraf Yakhloufi were sentenced to 10 years. Others were sentenced to 1-5 years.
The Hirak activists were held for over a year, awaiting trial and verdict.
The court’s decision resulted in nationwide controversy and protests calling for the release of the activists.
Demonstrations took place on Wednesday in the capital of the Rif region, Nador, near the Parliament in in Rabat, and on Boulevard El Oumame Al Moutahida in Casablanca. People in Meknes protested on Friday.
Casablanca’s Court of Appeals has separately sentenced Moroccan journalist Hamid El Mahdaoui on Thursday, to three years in prison for “inciting participation in a banned protest” and “threatening national security.”
El Mahdaoui gave a speech to a crowd gathered at Place Mohammed VI in the Riffian city of Al Hoceima, encouraging them to take part in the July 20, 2017, protest which had been banned by the government.
The Hirak protests began in October 2016 after the death of Mouhcine Fikri, a local fishmonger who was crushed to death in a garbage truck as he was trying to save his goods that had been confiscated by authorities in Al Hoceima.
