Moroccan student dies after 72-day hunger strike

A Moroccan student died yesterday after a 72-day hunger strike in prison in the city of Fez, north of the country, the Anadolu news agency reported.

The administration of the hospital of Al-Hassan II University officially announced the death of the student Mustapha Al-Mizyani yesterday caused by his hunger strike. Al-Mizyani was admitted to hospital on August 4 after his health deteriorated.

The student started his hunger strike at the beginning of June. When he was sent to prison on July 11, he decided to continue the strike until his demand to be enrolled in the Faculty of Science be met.

Al-Mizyani was detained on claims he took part in the killing of fellow student Abdul-Rahim Al-Hasnawi, who was affiliated to the ruling Islamic Justice and Development Party.

Al-Hasnawi was killed in an armed attack carried out by radical leftist students against Islamist students, who were planning to organise a workshop with the title “Islamist, Leftists and Democracy”.

The leftists refused the workshop under the pretext that one of the participants, an Islamist leader, was claimed to have taken part in the killing of a leftist student in 1993.

Moroccan universities have witnessed violence among students based on ideological and political reasons.