German Artist Appeals to Moroccan King After Holocaust Memorial Destruction and Deportation Order

In the letter published on his Facebook page, and addressed to the King of Morocco, the German national, Oliver Bienkowski, said that significant sums of money have been invested by his Organization for Art, in the Marrakech region. And, according to him, art is not a crime.

In parallel with the destruction of the Memorial, he was the victim of violence during his interrogation by the security services, he specifies.

An investigation had indeed been opened by the elements of the Royal Gendarmerie, concerning the construction of a Memorial without prior authorization as well as on his illegal stay in Morocco. The German national had had a residence permit since 2015, never renewed since.

According to the preliminary investigation, he was accused of illegally using public electricity from the village of Aït Fasqa in his project, in addition to satellite Internet.