The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) condemns the decision of the Aïn Sebaâ Criminal Court of Casablanca to sentence eleven young activists of the ‘20th of February Movement’ to up to one year in prison, following their participation in a peaceful protest.
On 6 April 2014, a national march was organised in Casablanca to defend ‘the purchasing power, dignity, freedom and social justice’. The march had been authorized and was organised by the Moroccan Labor’s Union (UMT), the Democratic Confederation for Labor (CDT) and the Democratic Federation for Labor (FDT). The demonstration was also supported by civil society organizations such as the ‘20th February Movement,’ the National Union of Moroccan Students (UNEM) and the National Association of Unemployed Graduates.
During the protest, eleven young activists from the ‘20th February Movement’ were assaulted and arrested by Moroccan security forces while chanting anti-corruption and anti-government slogans. Since then, two of them were released on bail, while the others are still in detention. They have been charged with “violence against a public officer” (Article 267 of the Moroccan Penal Code), “participation” and “organisation of an unauthorized gathering” (Articles 11 and 14 of the decree on public gatherings).
On 22 May 2014, the Aïn Sebaâ Criminal Court of Casablanca sentenced the eleven activists to up to one year in prison. Hamza Haddi, Youssef Bouhlal, Hamid Alla, Abdellatif Essarsri and Abdelghani Zaghmoun have been sentenced to one year in prison, while A’aras Mustafa, Ayoub Boudad, Hakim Sarrokh and Mohamed Harraq to six months in prison. Fouad Al-Baz and Amine Lekbabi received a two-month suspended sentence. They were also ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 dirhams (4,500 euros) to the General Directorate of National Security.
EMHRN calls upon the Moroccan authorities to guarantee the freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression for all of its citizens, including those critical of the institutions. The Network deems these sentences arbitrary and calls for the unconditional release of the eleven activists and the dropping of all charges against them.
EMHRN also calls upon the European Union (EU), through the EU Delegation and the embassies of EU member-States in Morocco, to immediately take all necessary measures to protect human rights defenders and activists, and to call upon the Moroccan authorities to peruse the human rights-related objectives of in the EU-Morocco Action Plan in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy.