Morocco’s Stability Is Roiled by Monthslong Protests Over Fishmonger’s Death
AL HOCEIMA, Morocco — The house, down a dusty dirt track in a small village near the city of Al Hoceima in northern Morocco,
looked dreary outside, with its unpainted facade, but inside the mood
was cheery. Friends and family were celebrating the return of a young
singer and human rights activist who had just been released from jail.
King Mohammed VI
pardoned the young woman, Salima Ziani, 23, late last month after his
annual speech commemorating his ascension to the throne, which is
usually followed by mass pardons.
Ms.
Ziani had been eating dinner with her three cellmates in Oukacha Prison
in Casablanca when she was summoned to the office of the prison warden.
The warden gave her a flower and said she was free to return to her
hometown, Al Hoceima, in the mountainous Rif region along Morocco’s
northern coast.
She had been jailed for two months for her role in leading the protests that have been shaking the Rif since the gruesome death
of a fishmonger in October. What began as a spontaneous movement
calling for a serious inquiry into the tragedy has turned into one of
the longest protest movements in the region since the Arab Spring.
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