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Moroccan Justice and Development Party holds 'Deep State' responsible for the killing of an activist

August 10, 2017 at 3:32 am

Moroccans demand economic and social development during a protest outside the parliament building in Rabat, Morocco on 18 May 2017 [Jalal Morchidi/Anadolu Agency]

The Justice and Development Party, Morocco’s largest opposition Islamist group, held the so-called Al-Makhzen –  the Deep State – responsible for the “killing” of an activist in Hirak Rif (an opposition group) yesterday, since he was wounded during a protest march in the northern city of Al-Hoceima on 20 July.

Al-Makhzen is a Moroccan political term meant to refer to influential people in the Kingdom who occupy positions in various important departments and who are close to the royal palace. They are able to act under the pretext of defending their interests and prefer to determine the interests of the kingdom. They also make important decisions outside representative institutions, such as the Parliament, and are usually active with a network of influential entrepreneurs and other actors.

During a press release, the Justice and Development Party stated that “on 20 July, the activist Imad El Attabi came out on a peaceful march to ask for the most basic rights of a decent life, but he found himself the direct target of the forces of repression that shot him dead.”

Since last October, Al-Hoceima and a number of towns and villages in the north have witnessed protests that demanded the development of the region, the end of marginalisation and fighting corruption, according to the protesters.

Read: Al-Hoceima protests mirror Morocco’s political fragility

The Justice and Development Party held the so-called Al-Makhzen full responsibility for the killing of El Attabi, describing it as a “criminal act”.

It called on the “state” to lift immediately what it described as “manifestations of militarization” in the countryside, in reference to the heavy security presence in the city of Al-Hoceima and a number of rural cities (north).

The group praised the “popular cohesion of the rural people” and called for “the continuation of peacefulness and not to be provoked by Al-Makhzen, which wants to plunge the region into a swamp of chaos.”

Read: 80 injured as police advance on Rif protests

The Public Prosecution in Morocco announced yesterday that the investigations are continuing in order to determine the circumstances and the causes of the death, in preparation for the announcement of the result to the public opinion.

#Rif

Since he was shot in the head during a security crackdown in Al-Hoceima, El Attabi remained in a coma. He was the first to die since the beginning of the Hirak Al-Rif.

The number of detainees of these protests exceeded 250 people, and the court issued endless judgments against tens of them.

The Moroccan Government, led by the Justice and Development Party, says the solution to the crisis in the rural region would be achieved only through a political and a developmental approach.