17 young Moroccans sentenced after Ait Amira’s violent protests

Despite a pause in the youth protests in Morocco where the King intervened, the state will still go ahead with a number of harsh sentences against those who were caught carrying out damage, reports one Moroccan outlet.

Moroccan youth organised peaceful protests to demand social reform. However, violence erupted in certain cities, which led to the arrest of hundreds of demonstrators. Seventeen young Moroccans have been served sentences ranging from 3 to 15 years on October 14th for their involvement in the violent protests of Ait Amira, according to Le Desk.

Prosecutors of the Agadir Court of Appeal used a legal procedure used for serious charges to accelerated the judicial processing of the young men who participated in the riots. They damaged three banks, several cars and set ablaze trash cans in the city centre of Aït Amira on the night from October 1st to October 2nd.

The seventeen men were separated in four groups and were trialed on different counts. The counts included the destruction and looting of private and public property, participating in theft by night, with a group and under the threat of violence, setting unoccupied cars and an empty building ablaze, insulting and physically assaulting police officers, and degrading public utility goods.

The length of the sentences for the prosecuted varied greatly even for similar counts. In a group composed of 11 young men, some were acquitted of several initial counts, which allowed one young man to receive a four-year sentence. However, others in his group who were also cleared of certain crimes faced a less fortunate outcome, as they were given a 10-year sentence for their involvement in the riots.

Nine detainees will be serving 10 year-long sentences, while others have received more severe judgements. Three of the young men will be spending 15 years behind bars and another will be in prison for 12 years, according to L’Observateur du Maroc et d’Afrique. The length of these sentences demonstrates the severity of the judicial system towards young Moroccans who were involved in the violent protests.

Aït Amira is located 20 km southeast of Agadir, the Moroccan city where, as reported by the government-friendly outlet Morroco World News, the death of 8 pregnant women in a public hospital sparked the fury of Moroccan youth who have been peacefully protesting in the country since September 27th.

The nation’s young people wanted to express their frustration regarding the country’s corruption and the poor condition of Moroccan public infrastructure. Most protests were peaceful while some turned violent which resulted in clashes with the police, sadly taking the lives of three young Moroccans.

The group that started the peaceful protests, GenZ 212, has been experiencing weakening support over the past few days, which might be related to the arrests and violence that erupted at some of the demonstrations.

However, the leaders of the groups always advocated for peaceful forms of resistance, and they recently called for young Moroccans to join them for sit-ins in several Moroccan cities to formulate their demands for social reform.

Le Desk, L’Observateur, Maghrebi.org