Moroccan activist’s jailing allegedly ‘politically motivated’

image coming

 

A Moroccan earthquake activist who led protests against the government’s response has been imprisoned in a move human rights activists have labelled ‘politically motivated’.

Said Ait Mahdi, a 32-year-old president of a leading earthquake activist group, was sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of more than $1,000, according to The Associated Press on January 14^th.

Ait Mahdi’s charges included defamation, assault and inciting an unauthorized demonstration. According to News Central, the charges “stemmed from complaints filed by local officials who alleged that social media posts made by Ait Mahdi contained offensive remarks”.

His lawyers stated he intends to appeal the ruling as his detention is condemned as arbitrary by the Moroccan Association for Human Rights. They also stated his detention “was in retaliation for his activism on behalf of the earthquake-stricken region and its people”, reported by The Associated Press.

Three other activists were acquitted on January 13^th; Ait Mahdi is the first activist to face such a sentence.

Ait Mahdi and his fellow activists protested the government’s reaction to the 6.8-magnitude earthquake of September 2023 which killed nearly 3,000 people, damaged over 60,000 homes, and at least 585 schools. It also decimated infrastructure within the affected region.

The earthquake, according to The Associated Press, “exacerbated regional inequities that have long plagued parts of Morocco dominated by indigenous minority groups”.

However, the government has pledged more than $11.5 billion to aid in recovery and reconstruction over the next five years, focusing on housing and cash aid to displaced families.

Despite this pledge, protests have intermittently erupted in towns and villages with those displaced by the earthquake decrying the mismanagement of recovery, with many still living in tents and temporary shelters a year and a half later.

Ait Mahdi has been labelled “the voice of the oppressed and earthquake victims” as hundreds demonstrated outside the Marrakech court where he was tried.

Freedom of political assembly and the ability to protest is sharply restricted in Morocco and the imprisonment of Ait Mahdi is another demonstration of the politically motivated regime in its suppression of political activism.

The Associated Press, News Central