Morocco to expel eight European lawyers supporting Western Sahara prisoners

The Moroccan authorities have deported eight European lawyers who they said were in the country to undermine public order by supporting prisoners from the Western Sahara protests in 2010, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The statement said two French nationals, one Belgian and five Spanish citizens, representing an international collective supporting prisoners of Gdeim Izik, had been expelled by Rabat city authorities.

Clashes between Moroccan protesters including Western Sahara activists and Moroccan security forces in November 2010 in camp Gdeim Izik led to the deaths of ten security officers, a firefighter and two civilians.

A Moroccan military court jailed 24 Western Saharan activists following the incident.