Six leaders still behind bars a decade after Rif uprising
Morocco marks the 10th anniversary of the Hirak movement, with key figures like Nasser Zefzafi remaining imprisoned and youth unemployment high.
By Jisoo Kim ·
Six key figures from the Moroccan Hirak movement are still in prison ten years after the uprising began. The anniversary falls on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. The protests started after fishmonger Mouhcine Fikri died in a garbage truck in Al Hoceima on October 28, 2016.
Nasser Zefzafi, the movement’s leader, is serving a 20-year sentence. He is one of six prominent activists still detained. Historian Maati Monjib described the event as one of the major social movements since King Mohammed VI took the throne in 1999.
Authorities allowed the demonstrations to continue for several months before a crackdown in late May 2017. Police arrested hundreds of people. Officials labeled the group separatist, a claim Monjib called false. He noted that only a small minority of activists, mostly on Facebook, held that view.
Tensions peaked on July 20, 2017, when riot police used tear gas and batons in Al Hoceima. Twenty-two-year-old Imad el-Attabi was injured during the dispersal. He died the following month, triggering solidarity protests across the country.
Nabil Ahamjik is also serving a 20-year term after his arrest in 2017. His brother Mohamed said Nabil opposed "hogra," a term for humiliation and oppression. Nabil is held in Tangier. He recently completed a master’s thesis in prison with a score of 18 out of 20.
Nabil staged a 10-day hunger strike last month because he lacked a proper space for his doctoral work. Rights groups have cited torture and unfair trials in their denunciations of the arrests. Activist Said El Amrani, living in Belgium, said at least 11 activists have been arrested upon returning to Morocco since 2016.
El Amrani reported that five new police stations have been built in the region since the protests. He also said manipulated images of his daughter were circulated online. The Rif region has a history of conflict, including the 1921 to 1926 war against Spanish and French forces.
Last year’s protests by Generation Z resulted in 6,000 arrests. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights states that around 700 people remain jailed, including dozens of minors. Youth unemployment in Morocco stands at 37 percent. Tens of thousands attempted to cross into Ceuta this summer.
Source: Middle East Eye
