Rabat- Bassima Hakkaoui has said that blind protesters tried to break into her personal office on Sunday.
Rabat- Bassima Hakkaoui has said that blind protesters tried to break into her personal office on Sunday.
The Ministry of Family and Solidarity continues to deal with blind protesters conducting a sit-in on the ministry headquarters’ roof in Rabat.
Minister of Family Bassima Hakkaoui has provided her version of the story following the death of Saber El Haloui, a blind protester who fell to his death off the ministry’s roof last week.
The minister said that the protesters broke into the fourth floor of the ministry and tried to barge into her personal office.
During discussions in the House of Representatives at Parliament on Monday, Hakkaoui said that the blind protesters asked to be “immediately” employed and did not respond to the ministry’s readiness to dialogue.
Read Also: Blind Protesters Blame Hakkaoui for Death of Fellow Protester
Bombarded with questions, Hakkaoui explained that the protesters broke into the headquarters through the main gate and glass door.
Hakkaoui said that she met with the protesters on October 3 to “assure” them that someone will employ them by the end of the year.
The minister said that the protesters agreed to suspend their sit-in on Friday, October 5. However, Hakkaoui found them still at the ministry in the following days.
The blind protesters began the sit-in complaining of Hakkaoui’s not acting on promises that the ministry was processing their files.
On Sunday, 25-year-old Saber El Haloui fell off the ministry’s roof during the sit-in which was reportedly organized by the National Coordination for the Disabled, Unemployed Degree-Holders beginning September 26.
Many of El Haloui’s fellow protesters told the Akhbar Alyaoum newspaper that El Haloui was speaking on the phone with his family on the rear side of the roof when his foot slipped. Forensics confirmed that the cause of death was not suicide.
In the aftermath of El Haloui’s death, the protesters related that Hakkaoui did not care about them or cooperate with them.
“You do not scare me; your protests are random … I am a woman of iron,’’ Hakkaoui allegedly stated, according to one protester.
The protesters hold Hakkaoui responsible for El Haloui’s death, rejecting her condolences via a Facebook post. She wrote: “We wish to express our deep sorrow at this painful incident.”
The blind men are continuing to protest lack of fair opportunities and the death of their comrade.
