Morocco group demands release of anti-normalisation activist

The Moroccan Coalition for Human Rights has called for the immediate release of human rights activist Ahmed Wehman, head of the Moroccan Observatory against Normalisation with Israel.

The Court of First Instance in Errachidia sentenced Wehman “to one month in prison and a fine of up to 3,000 dirhams” over a protest he organised with a number of anti-normalisation activists in October outside the Erfoud dates exhibition which featured Israeli agricultural products.

The coalition, which is an umbrella organisation for 21 human rights bodies, denounced the “confiscation of the right to peaceful protest against the presence of Israelis on Moroccan soil,” saying it “constitutes a flagrant attack on freedom of opinion and expression”.

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The coalition called on human rights bodies to “stop all forms of normalisation with Israel; occupier of the land of Palestine” describing the verdict against Wehman as “unfair”.

The coalition explained that normalisation with Israel has now spread to “include political, economic, cultural, sports and academic fields, following the presentation of Israeli agricultural equipment in the Erfoud dates exhibition.”

The Moroccan Observatory against Normalisation with Israel said security at the exhibition assaulted its Wehman and the other activists outside the venue.