“Free Palestine, fall for the normalisation, fall for injustice,” said Lghazaoui’s sister following the court’s decision. [Getty]
A court in Morocco has sentenced an activist from the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement to one year in jail for inciting violence, after urging a public blockade on the US embassy for providing weapons to Israel amid the Gaza war.
On Tuesday, the Casablanca Court of First Instance charged Ismail Lghazaoui, an activist in the BDS Morocco group, with “inciting crimes and misdemeanours through electronic means.”
He was tried under Article 1-299 of the Moroccan Penal Code and received the maximum punishment of one year in jail and a $500 fine.
Lghazaoui, 34, was detained on 19 November in Casablanca, a few days after he called on Tangier port workers and the public to block two Maersk cargo ships. The ships were suspected of transporting military equipment to Israel.
In October, the young activist, who worked full-time as an agricultural engineer, also advocated for a blockade on the US embassy during a protest in Casablanca, accusing Washington of sponsoring Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
BDS Morocco said the public prosecutor failed to clarify the nature of the misdemeanour or crime that Lghazaoui was accused of inciting, “which makes the prosecution legally invalid.”
“We condemn this arbitrary ruling and consider it a punishment for Ismail Lghazaoui’s solidarity with the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights,” added the pro-Palestine group.
The trial of Lghazaoui was postponed several times after his arrest. His family and fellow activists had hoped that the 10 December hearing would lead to his release.
“Free Palestine, fall for the normalisation, fall for injustice,” said Lghazaoui’s sister following the court’s decision.
Crackdown on pro-Palestine activists in Morocco
Since the start of the war in Gaza, several pro-Palestine activists have faced court in Morocco under various charges.
In April, Abdul Rahman Zankad was sentenced to five years in prison after posting on Facebook about Israel’s war on Gaza and Morocco’s 2020 decision to establish diplomatic ties with Israel. The court found him guilty of insulting a constitutional institution and incitement.
Another activist, Said Boukioud, was sentenced last November to three years in prison for insulting the king in a series of Facebook posts criticising normalisation.
The Moroccan Committee for the Support of Political Prisoners say these trials aim at “stifling freedom of expression and criminalising solidarity with Palestine.”
Pro-Palestine protests in Morocco have intensified since the Gaza war began, with activists urging the revocation of the normalisation agreement between Rabat and Tel Aviv brokered by Washington late in 2020.
Although Morocco has generally allowed public protests against Israel, authorities have, on several occasions, banned demonstrations near the French and US embassies and used force to disperse protests outside Carrefour stores, according to pro-Palestinian groups.
Thirteen other activists are currently facing trial for attempting to blockade a Carrefour supermarket, a target of BDS campaigns for its links to Israeli companies operating in settlements.
Source: newarab
