Morocco shuts residences of Justice and Spirituality members

Moroccan authorities have closed three houses of leading members of the Justice and Spirituality Group, the largest Islamic group in the country, local media reported yesterday.

The group explained in a statement that the residences belonged to Mounir Rakraki, a member of the group’s guidance board, Ahmad Ayet Ammi, and Izz Al-Din Naseeh, members of the group’s advisory council.

There had been no comments on the incident from the Moroccan authorities until 1300GMT.

Local media reported that the houses were shut as they “were being used to host illegal meetings and as secret mosques.”

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Last week, the state authorities closed three other houses affiliated to the group. Following the incident, the group said it would file a lawsuit against the move.

In February 2017, government institutions dismissed some 130 members of the Islamic movement from official posts and also sacked imams from several mosques without stating any reasons behind the move.

The Justice and Spirituality was founded at the end of the 1970s by Sheikh Abdul Salam Yassin (1928-2012). Later after its foundation, the group was banned by the government. The movement says it obtained a formal license from the government authorities in the 1980s.