Rabat, Morocco – A demonstration took place in Rabat yesterday in solidarity with Mohamed Ziane, a former Minister of Human Rights and prominent lawyer, who has begun a hunger strike. The protest coincides with ongoing concerns regarding sentences handed down to participants in recent youth-led demonstrations.
The Moroccan Association for Supporting Political Detainees, known as ‘Himam,’ organized the protest alongside human rights activists. Demonstrators gathered in front of the Court of Appeal in Rabat, demanding the release of Ziane, who is 83 years old. The protest was timed to coincide with a hearing regarding Ziane’s defense team’s request to merge his sentences, as permitted under Moroccan law, particularly given the completion of his initial sentence. Critics allege that authorities are unjustly prolonging his detention.
Protesters held aloft images of Ziane and banners denouncing his imprisonment as a ‘deliberate act of revenge,’ calling for his immediate release after he served three years, ending on November 21st.
Simultaneously, the youth movement that staged significant protests in Morocco in late September issued a statement expressing solidarity with Ziane and condemning what they perceive as his mistreatment. ‘The law exists to protect individuals, not to seek retribution,’ the youth movement stated, expressing deep concern over the unfolding situation surrounding Ziane, who has initiated a hunger strike in response to his continued detention.
The youth movement’s statement further asserted that ‘keeping a Moroccan citizen, aged 83 and suffering from multiple health conditions, in detention under the pretext of ‘preventive detention’ in another case is a blatant abuse of the law and strips it of its humanitarian spirit, turning it into a tool for persecution and settling scores.’
Ziane’s family had previously released a statement, widely circulated in local media, indicating that ‘Ziane considers himself to be held in arbitrary detention and informs the national and international public that he will use all available means to put an end to this situation. He has notified the prison administration of his intention to begin an open-ended hunger strike until his release, as he believes that it is his right.’
The youth movement also condemned the ‘unfair’ sentences handed down to those arrested during recent protests.
