Moroccan Islamist Group Condemns Imam’s Attack on Rif Protest Detainees

"Many are unjustly and aggressively intimidating the Hirak detainees. They want to give them lessons and organize to defend nationality and enumerate its virtues," wrote Omar Iharchan, member of the National Secretariat of the Political Circle of Al Adl Wal Ihssane (AWI), on his Facebook page. He protested against the remarks of the Salafist imam, Mohamed Fizazi, who had called Nasser Zefzafi and the six other detainees of the Hirak of the Rif "bastards" because they no longer wanted their Moroccan nationality.

"Where were they when the youth of the Hirak were suffering? Why are they absent from the solidarity marches and sit-ins if they really agree with the demands of the Hirak?" questioned Iharchan, who defended those concerned.

"You [Fizazi] may not agree with the gesture of the detainees. But their attitude is based on the data they have and the solutions they have chosen, so that the situation they are facing does not warrant depriving them of the heavy accusations that deprive them of their citizenship and excommunicating them. That is the true extremism," hammered this member of the National Secretariat of the Political Circle of Al Adl Wal Ihssane.