Las Vegas Sun

April 23, 2024

Hundreds protest to free Morocco’s northern activists

CASABLANCA, Morocco — Hundreds of people from around Morocco are protesting in the nation's economic capital, Casablanca, to demand freedom for jailed activists.

The Sunday demonstration was the latest of numerous protests demanding the liberation of activists from the city of Al Hoceima, in the neglected northern Rif region. The leader of the opposition movement, Nasser Zefzafi, and other leading figures are to go on trial this month.

Protesters chanted "freedom, dignity, social justice."

The president of the Federation of the Democratic Left, Nabil Mounib, called out "We are here to say, 'Enough.'"

The protest movement has become the biggest challenge to the North African kingdom, a U.S. ally known for its stability, since the Arab Spring in 2011 overthrew longstanding regimes in the larger region.