{"id":9821,"date":"2021-01-18T13:15:39","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T13:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=151305"},"modified":"2021-01-18T13:15:39","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T13:15:39","slug":"the-troubling-case-of-maati-monjib-highlights-moroccos-climate-of-repression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/18\/the-troubling-case-of-maati-monjib-highlights-moroccos-climate-of-repression\/","title":{"rendered":"The troubling case of Ma\u00e2ti Monjib highlights Morocco\u2019s climate of repression"},"content":{"rendered":"
In an interview with the French site, Orient XXI<\/a>, Monjib said: \u201cThe goal of Moroccan power is to make me and my family feel bad in Morocco and wherever I travel, (\u2026). I repeat here to the men of the regime: there is no way I will be silent, when people, including friends, are suffering in prison just for expressing themselves freely\u201d.<\/p>\n The case of Ma\u00e2ti Monjib is emblematic of the climate of repression that reigns in Morocco, and the methods of the Moroccan regime and its police to silence any criticism or opposition.<\/p>\n Since 2011, the regime has tried to systematically stifle independent journalists and media. In recent years, the repression of activists and social movements has significantly increased<\/a>, targeting those who revolt against the inequalities and social injustices that plague the country.<\/p>\n One example of such repression is over the Moroccan Hirak,<\/em> a 2016 popular protest movement in the Rif, an area in northern Morocco. This was a weeks-long uprising against corruption, police violence and poverty after the death of a small fish seller. In 2017, the movement\u2019s 43 supposed leaders were sentenced<\/a> to terms of up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n In another incident, 19 people arrested in 2010 for having participated in a popular independence uprising in the Western Sahara (controlled by Morocco since 1979), were in November 2020 sentenced<\/a> to terms ranging from 20 years to life in prison.<\/p>\n Journalist and human rights activist Omar Radi was arrested<\/a> in July of last year, accused of \u201csexual assault\u201d and \u201cespionage\u201d. He, too, has been the subject of a long campaign of defamation in the press. A few weeks before his arrest, the editor of the independent daily Akhbar el-Youm, Soulaimane Raissouni, was also arrested on charges of indecent assault<\/a>. Both men remain in jail awaiting trial and resolutely deny the charges against them.<\/p>\nAn emblematic case<\/strong><\/h2>\n