June 28, 2018
Amnesty International has censured heavy jail sentences handed down on June 26, 2018 to Hirak Rif activists, saying the guilty verdicts and heavy sentences returned in the cases of 53 Hirak protesters in Casablanca must be overturned due to the unfair nature of their trials.
The London-based rights group said on Wednesday that protests leaders Nasser Zafzafi and Nabil Ahamjik were last night sentenced to 20 years in prison, along with two other protesters, in connection with protests in the Rif region in 2017. Other protesters were given prison sentences ranging from one year to 15 years and fines ranging from 2000 ($230) to 5000 Moroccan Dirhams (about $535).
“These convictions are unsafe given the extremely unfair nature of the trials,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director.
“Nasser Zefzafi and others who have been convicted and imprisoned for protesting peacefully for social justice or covering demonstrations online should never have been on trial in the first place. He must be released and his conviction overturned.”
