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Ex-Morocco PM calls on King to release detained Jerada protesters

February 5, 2019 at 12:27 pm

Former Moroccan prime minister Abdelilah Benkirane yesterday called on Monday on King Mohammed VI to release demonstrators held during protests in the northeastern Moroccan town of Jerada.

Benkirane made the remarks during a meeting with members of his organisation, the Justice and Development Party, from the town of Jerada.

“I ask the king, if possible, to release the detainees of Jerada as he did with the detainees of Al-Hoceima,” Benkirane said.

In March 2018 Human Rights Watch accused the Moroccan police of using excessive force against protesters in the impoverished  mining town of Jerada.

Protests in Jerada began after two mining workers were accidentally killed on 22 December 2017 inside a coal pit as a result of poor and dangerous conditions.

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