Video of detained Rif protest leader shows no torture marks

A video has surfaced showing the detained Rif protest movement leader, Nasser Zefzafi, with parts of his body on show to deny he has been tortured by Moroccan security authorities, footage which contradicts reports and other images released showing the activist’s bruised body.

The video was shown on Moroccan news sites including the intelligence services site Barlmane yesterday where Zefzafi dressed in a Moroccan djellaba.

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A few hours after it was uploaded, the video was removed but still remains available on social networks.

Zefzafi was arrested on 29 May in Al-Hoceima and transferred to Casablanca. According to Abdessadek El Bouchtaoui, a member of the defence group of the detainees of the protest movement, the leader of the movement “suffered physical and moral violence during his arrest,” the lawyers explained last month.

I noticed a trail of blows to the left eye, injuries to the head after being violated with a wood. As a humiliation, they put rotten socks on her nose and mouth.

https://twitter.com/Realpolitikdam2/status/884464832304611331

Morocco has seen daily protests in the troubled Al-Hoceima region in the north since May calling on the kingdom to pump more funds in projects in the Rif. Hundreds of activists, including Zefzafi, have been arrested with some claiming to have been abused by security forces whilst in detention.

Read: Morocco arrests 150 during Rif protests

Video footage also shows security forces’ heavy handed approach when dealing with the protesters in recent days.