Imprisoned Hirak Leader Zefzafi Demands Activist Involvement in Rif Peace Talks

From his cell in Ras El Ma, in Fez, Zefzafi has been making headlines. And it is his father who reports the discussion with the leader of the Hirak, in particular, on the implementation and success of the mission entrusted to the "Civil Initiative for the Rif". It is, in fact, a framework for consultations, which attempts to find a favorable outcome to the Hirak file that has lasted too long.

According to Ahmed Zefzafi, the leader of the Hirak "refuses to recognize any initiative that would not involve activists still in detention and their families". In relaying the information, Hespress notes that this is a position to be included in the framework of the creation of a "Civil Initiative for the Rif".

It is rather on the networks that Ahmed Zefzafi chose to share the point of view of the famous detainee. One could read on his Facebook page: "I just made a visit to my son, the political prisoner, Nasser Zefzafi. He informs the popular masses that any initiative without the involvement of released detainees or those still in prison and their families does not represent him," wrote Ahmed Zefzafi. In this same publication by the father of the leader of the Hirak movement, born in the Rif, one could also read another concern of Zefzafi who wonders: "How can those who were part of the problem yesterday now talk about a solution?".

In another message, apparently coded, the detainee declares that he "does not want firefighters", reports the same media, which deduces that the leader, sentenced to 20 years in prison, following the events of Al Hoceima, in June 2017, opposes the "civil initiative", created by associative actors with the aim of defusing the Rif crisis. An approach that is also supported by the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and whose exchanges are also followed by the Inter-Ministerial Delegate for Human Rights, Ahmed Chaouki Benyoub, according to the same source.