Moroccan Protest Leader Zefzafi Hospitalized After Collapsing in Prison Cell

Nasser Zefzafi was found unconscious and lying on the floor in his cell by the guards of the Tangier prison, after suffering a hypoglycemia crisis probably caused by the hunger strike he is currently observing with other detainees, informs El Mundo. He had already been transferred in May to a hospital outside the prison, to undergo biomedical tests. The doctors diagnosed him with paresthesia, an abnormal sensation of tingling accompanied by cold and heat in certain parts of the body, causing circulatory disorders.

The harassment that Nasser Zefzafi says he has been subjected to since his arrest and his 18-month stay in solitary confinement, added to the hunger strikes he is leading, have affected his physical condition and altered his state of health. The family and lawyers of the Rif leader have constantly denounced his poor detention conditions and demanded that the Moroccan prison authorities provide reports attesting to Nasser’s medical situation.

In a statement published on June 26 on the occasion of the celebration of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) recalled that "the practice of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is still common in various detention centers in Morocco".

Last week, the Court of Cassation issued a ruling in which it rejected the defense’s request to review the convictions of the main actors in the protests organized in the Rif in 2016. About 800 activists had been arrested.