Morocco adjourns Rif activist Zefzafi’s trial

The trial of detained Moroccan activist Nasser Zefzafi has been adjourned for a third time, according to his lawyer Mohammed Ziane, the HuffPost Morocco reported.

Zefzafi and his lawyer were supposed to be shown evidence against him but the activist was not brought to court and his lawyer was forbidden from seeing him, Ziane explained. The reason for the adjournment is believed to be new evidence which has come to light of funding from abroad to the Popular Movement which Zefzafi heads.

Five telephone conversations were reportedly retrieved between a Moroccan resident in the Netherlands and the director and editor of the site Badil.info, Hamid El Mahdaoui.

In these conversations, the interlocutor of Holland revealed “€160 ($189.33)” was donated to the movement. The trial has been postponed to investigate the new evidence and who from the movement received the donation.

Read: Video of detained Rif protest leader shows no torture marks

El Mahdaoui will appear before the investigating judge in Casablanca tomorrow where he will explain his role in the phone calls, according to Badil.info. El Mahdaoui was reportedly “interviewed as a witness in the case of telephone calls that he received from a stranger before the Attorney General at the Court of Appeals which ordered the opening of an investigation with him for not revealing an attack against state security forces, in accordance with article 209 of the penal code.”

If found guilty, he faces between two to five years’ imprisonment and a fine of between 1,000 and 10,000 dirhams ($106-$1,060) for being “aware of plans or for the commission of such acts”.

#Rif

Zefzafi was arrested in May for leading protests in the troubled Rif region in northern Morocco calling on the government to do more to fund and develop the region like the rest of the country.