Moroccan activists get suspended sentence over pro-Palestine sit-in
Name(s):
Taib Madmad, Soufiane El-Mansouri, Radouane Er-Rifai, Abdelmajid Chhaiba, Abdel-Ilah Benabde Sselam, and Khalid Bencaga
Status:
Free
Profession:
Members of the Moroccan Front in support of Palestine and against normalisation
Nationality:
Moroccans
Date of arrest:
Members of the Moroccan Front in support of Palestine and against normalisation were arrested while participating in a peaceful sit-in in front of Carrefour in Salé, Morocco, calling for a boycott of the chain, which has been accused of being complicit in Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. Following their arrest, they were released and given a six-month suspended prison sentence for "organising and participating in an undeclared demonstration" on December 26, 2024.
On November 25, 2023, 13 activists from the Moroccan Front for supporting Palestine and against normalisation, participated in a peaceful sit-in in front of the Carrefour supermarket chain in Salé, Morocco, after giving one of the store's managers a letter detailing Carrefour's complicity in Israel's human rights violations in Gaza. The activists called on Carrefour to respect international law by ceasing to support, directly or indirectly, the occupying army and Israeli companies operating in the settlements.
Following the sit-in, they were violently arrested by the authorities before being released later in the day.
They would later be prosecuted while under conditional release for "organising and participating in an undeclared demonstration" under article 14 of Law No. 76 on Public Assemblies.
After eight consecutive postponements, the 13 activists were tried in first instance and were sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence on December 26, 2024. Their sentence was later confirmed on appeal.
In response to an urgent appeal submitted by MENA Rights Group on behalf of six of the 13 members of the Moroccan Front, several UN Special Procedures mandate holders sent a communication to the Moroccan government expressing concerns that their arrests and detentions may be linked to the legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
In particular, the UN experts found that “the actions carried out by human rights defenders during the peaceful sit-in in front of a store in Salé, which led to their prosecution, constitute acts of civil disobedience in line with international human rights law.”
MENA Rights Group calls for an end to the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrators and activists expressing support for Palestinians and opposition to Morocco’s normalisation policy with Israel and urges the dropping of all charges against those prosecuted solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
| Name(s): |
Taib Madmad, Soufiane El-Mansouri, Radouane Er-Rifai, Abdelmajid Chhaiba, Abdel-Ilah Benabde Sselam, and Khalid Bencaga
|
| Status: |
Free
|
| Profession: |
Members of the Moroccan Front in support of Palestine and against normalisation
|
| Nationality: |
Moroccans
|
| Date of arrest: |
|
On November 25, 2023, 13 activists from the Moroccan Front for supporting Palestine and against normalisation, participated in a peaceful sit-in in front of the Carrefour supermarket chain in Salé, Morocco, after giving one of the store's managers a letter detailing Carrefour's complicity in Israel's human rights violations in Gaza. The activists called on Carrefour to respect international law by ceasing to support, directly or indirectly, the occupying army and Israeli companies operating in the settlements.
Following the sit-in, they were violently arrested by the authorities before being released later in the day.
They would later be prosecuted while under conditional release for "organising and participating in an undeclared demonstration" under article 14 of Law No. 76 on Public Assemblies.
After eight consecutive postponements, the 13 activists were tried in first instance and were sentenced to a six-month suspended prison sentence on December 26, 2024. Their sentence was later confirmed on appeal.
In response to an urgent appeal submitted by MENA Rights Group on behalf of six of the 13 members of the Moroccan Front, several UN Special Procedures mandate holders sent a communication to the Moroccan government expressing concerns that their arrests and detentions may be linked to the legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
In particular, the UN experts found that “the actions carried out by human rights defenders during the peaceful sit-in in front of a store in Salé, which led to their prosecution, constitute acts of civil disobedience in line with international human rights law.”
MENA Rights Group calls for an end to the ongoing crackdown on peaceful demonstrators and activists expressing support for Palestinians and opposition to Morocco’s normalisation policy with Israel and urges the dropping of all charges against those prosecuted solely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
