Rabat- Many Moroccan university students in Nador, the capital of the Rif region, Nador went on a march Wednesday morning to decry the heavy sentences given to the Hirak Rif activists, including their leaders, Nasser Zefzafi and Nabil Ahemjik.
On Tuesday night, Casablanca’s Court of Appeals sentenced Zefzafi and Ahemjik, along with activists Ouassim El Boustati and Samir Ghid, to 20 years in prison after being held awaiting trial and verdict for over a year.
Reacting to the court’s decision, the protesting students have decided to boycott university exams and protest on the streets while chanting slogans such as “Death over humiliation,” and “The people want freedom for the detainee,” and “We are all Zefzafi.”
Zakaria Adehchour, Mohamed Haki, and Mohamed Bouhenouch received 15 years in prison.
Mohamed Jelloul, Karim Amghar, Salah Lackham, Omar Bouharass, Bilal Ahaddad, Jamal Bouhaddou, and Achraf Yakhloufi were sentenced to 10 years.
The Hirak activists were found guilty for participating in unauthorized demonstrations which broke out in the northern Al Hoceima province between 2016 and 2017.
The Hirak protests began after the death of local fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri, who worked in the informal economy. Fikri was crushed to death in a garbage truck in October 2016 while attempting to retrieve goods that authorities had confiscated.
A series of protests broke out after the incident in Al Hoceima to decry social disparities in the Rif region.
