Several thousand people took to the streets in Morocco after dark on Tuesday to demand the release of the leader of months of protests in the neglected northern Rif region.
The region has been shaken by social unrest since the death in October last year of fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri, 31, who was crushed in a rubbish truck in the fishing port of al-Hoceima, as he protested against the seizure of swordfish caught out of season.
Nasser Zefzafi, who has emerged as the head of the grassroots Popular Movement, was arrested on Monday after three days on the run.
Photo: AFP
Demonstrators came out near the center of al-Hoceima for a fifth straight night at about 10pm, after the breaking of the daytime fast observed by Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan.
The protesters shouted slogans, including: “We are all Zefzafi” and “End militarization,” with hundreds of them brandishing photographs of the detained leader.
Anti-riot police attempted to disperse the demonstration, but pulled back following a tense, but non-violent standoff with the protesters.
A similar demonstration took place in the neighboring town of Imzouren, with a strong police presence, images on social media showed.
Smaller protests were held in the capital, Rabat, and the commercial capital, Casablanca, but were broken up by police, Moroccan media reported.
Zefzafi’s arrest was ordered after he allegedly interrupted a preacher at a mosque on Friday last week and called for further demonstrations.
Prosecutors charged that he had “obstructed, in the company of a group of individuals, freedom of worship” at the mosque in al-Hoceima.
He was arrested on Monday “along with other individuals” and transferred to Casablanca, prosecutors said.
As of Monday evening, police had arrested 40 people in connection with the disturbances in al-Hoceima, officials said.
Human rights groups gave higher figures.
The mainly ethnically Berber Rif region has long had a tense relationship with Morocco’s central authorities and was at the heart of Arab Spring-inspired protests in 2011.
The protests subsided following a series of political reforms, including constitutional changes that saw King Mohamed VI give up some of his wide-ranging powers.
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