Morocco: Suleiman Raissouni enters 112th day of hunger strike

Detained Moroccan journalist Suleiman Raissouni has entered his 112th day of hunger strike, local media reported on Wednesday.

Raissouni’s wife, Kholoud Mokhtari, posted on Facebook that her husband’s medical condition was “deteriorating”.

The rights activist began his hunger strike on 8 April to protest his continued pretrial detention lasting over a year.

“I hope that you stop your hunger strike. You are a hero in my eyes and the eyes of those who defend the dignity of this country,” Mokhtari added.

Mokhtari added in another Facebook post on Tuesday that Raissouni told her during a phone call that: “Some of the prisoners were assigned by the authorities to spy on him.” “My husband went down the stairs crawling with the help of a plastic bag to meet his defence because he was deprived of using a wheelchair,” Mokhtari noted.

In response, the head of the Moroccan General Delegation of the Penitentiary and Reintegration Administration (DGAPR) denied Mokhtari’s accusations, stressing that Raissouni was accompanied by medical staff, and had refused to visit the hospital. She reiterated that he had not had any phone calls with his wife.

On 10 July, a Casablanca court sentenced Raissouni to five years in prison over “violent indecent assault and detention,” an accusation he denies.

READ: Uyghur activist at imminent risk of deportation, torture after arrest in Morocco