Jail for Moroccan man who ran to king’s car

A Moroccan man has been handed a three-year jail term for attempting to reach King Mohammed VI by throwing himself on his car to give him a message, local media reported earlier this week.

A video posted online last month showed a young man running towards the king’s motorcade in the capital Rabat during a procession in honour of visiting King Abdullah II of Jordan.

The man is then hounded by the royal guard seen in the footage jumping out of moving vehicles to run after the man and arrest him.

Daily newspaper Akhbar Al-Yaoum confirmed the man was sentenced to prison last week after he tried to “hand a letter of grievances to the king“.

According to authorities, the 25-year-old was sentenced to three years for “blocking the royal procession, threatening to endanger the lives of others and disturbing the public order.”

The young man is not the first to make the desperate attempt to reach the king. A few videos showing Moroccans running towards the king’s car have circulated on social media in recent months.

In July last year, the interior ministry warned against “the danger of blocking the circulation and passing of a royal procession on a public road in a bid to benefit from certain advantages.”

The ministry further added in December that “security services accompanying the royal procession will receive no demand presented in this manner”.