“The man is shaken and does not know what to do. We just want to protect his rights and for the national security to do their best in handling this situation.”
Rabat – Morocco’s General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) has shared a video circulating on social media showing an American tourist in Marrakech. In the footage, the tourist explains that locals attacked him after accusing him of transmitting COVID-19.
The American citizen and his Moroccan host filed a complaint against a local pharmacist and his brother, accusing the pair of physical and verbal abuse.
“I was in the house when I heard banging on the door after we opened the door, we were attacked by four people and I got punched in the face. At that moment I did not know why, until they started accusing me in the streets of having the coronavirus,” the American man said.
In the video, a Moroccan citizen calls for justice and defends the American man. In the video footage, the American tourist explains that the owner of the hostel where is staying also received abuse.
“This is a foreign man with American origins that is staying with us, he was attacked by some neighbors and [they] accused him of spreading the coronavirus, when in fact he is not even sick,” the Moroccan hostel owner explained.
“The man is shaken and does not know what to do, we just want to protect his rights and for the national security to do their best in handling this situation,” he added, shifting focus from attacks he endured himself.
Security services launched an investigation into the incident, the DGSN confirmed on April 6. The fourth police department in Marrakech’s Gueliz district began the investigation on March 30, under the supervision of the city’s Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Security services have analyzed the footage in order to identify the suspects and refer them to the competent judicial authorities.
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