Rif Protest Leader Zefzafi Breaks Silence: Patriotic Speech at Father’s Funeral Stirs Al Hoceima

From the family home, he insisted on the primacy of "the interest of the homeland", while thanking the prison administration for allowing him to be present.

In his address, Nasser Zefzafi described his father as the "father of free men and women who dedicated his life to the homeland", specifying that it encompasses all regions of Morocco, "its Sahara, its south, its east and its north". He reaffirmed that "the interest of the homeland comes before any consideration".

The leader of the Hirak also expressed his gratitude to the prison administration for the efforts which, according to him, made his presence possible, a step that "was not easy". In reaction to his speech, the audience chanted slogans calling for his release and that of the other detainees of the movement.

Nasser Zefzafi is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence since his arrest in 2017 during the Rif protests. His father, Ahmed Zefzafi, passed away the previous evening, Wednesday night, after a long illness.