Rabat – The Moroccan General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR) has said that the Hirak Rif activists who have been on a hunger strike in the Tangier 2 prison and Ras El Ma prison in Fez have submitted notices to announce the end of their strike.
The Hirak Rif activists have been on a hunger strike to denounce the Casablanca Court of Appeals’ ruling on April 5 that upheld their prison sentences.
Read Also: Petition Increases Pressure on Morocco to Release Hirak Activists
In June 2018, dozens of activists received sentences ranging from 1 to 20 years in prison.
The court sentenced four activists, including the prominent leader of the Hirak Rif movement, Nasser Zefzafi, to 20 years.
In the weeks since, hundreds of Moroccans, politicians, and artists have joined campaigns and signed petitions asking the government to release the activists.
Activists also raised concerns on the state of health of one of the Hirak Rif prisoners, Rabii El Ablaq, whose health deteriorated due to a hunger strike he has been on for more than two weeks.
DGAPR said, in its statement published by Maghreb Arab Press (MAP), that it has adopted measures to improve conditions of detention in coordination with the National Council of Human Rights (CNDH).
On Sunday, April 21, rain did not stop people from rallying in the streets of Rabat to demand the release of the Hirak Rif activists.
Hundreds of people participated in the protests, chanting slogans such as “No liberty, no peace” and “Stand with Hirak Rif” in front of the Parliament in Rabat.
Police arrested hundreds of Hirak protesters in the summer of 2017. The movement, known as the Hirak Rif, began in October 2016 when a local fishmonger in the northern city of Al Hoceima was crushed to death in a garbage truck while retrieving confiscated fish. The region protested marginalization for months until the government crackdown.
