Hirak Movement Leaders Begin Hunger Strike in Moroccan Prison

"Nasser and Nabil are suffering the worst treatment in the Ras Elma prison, where they are serving their 20-year prison sentence," says Ahmed Zefzafi, the father of the leader of the Hirak of the RIF, Nasser Zefzafi. The latter was sentenced to 20 years in prison, as was Nabil Ahamjik, both leaders of the movement.

The two detainees, treated in an "inhumane" manner, according to their parents, have begun a hunger strike, to demand, among other things, the improvement of their detention conditions, the authorization to undergo medical examinations, the release of their comrades incarcerated in several prisons in the country, the increase in the duration of telephone calls, the reduction in the prices of products sold in the prison.

This decision "comes at a time when no sign of a way out of the crisis is looming on the horizon," said Nasser Zefzafi’s father, who insists in the twenty-minute video that the accused are victims of harassment by the prison director, who also refuses their requests and their access to books and newspapers.

In tears, the mother of Nabil Ahamjik, speaking in Amazigh, announces that her son is seriously ill and needs a medical diagnosis; which has been denied to him. Also, the two detainees have just returned their personal effects to their respective families, stating that the suspension of their strike is "subject to the satisfaction of their demands".