Home > Morocco > Wife of Convicted Terrorist Alleges Inhumane Treatment in Moroccan Prison
Wife of Convicted Terrorist Alleges Inhumane Treatment in Moroccan Prison
Tuesday 21 January 2020, by
The wife of the Belgo-Moroccan, Abdelqader Belliraj, came out of anonymity on Friday to denounce the "abusive isolation regime" in which her husband has been living for more than three years. In her remarks relayed by Human Rights Watch, Rachida Hatti accuses the Moroccan authorities of inflicting inhuman treatment on her husband.
The arrest of Abdelqader Belliraj dates back to 2008. The Belgo-Moroccan had been cited in the so-called "Brabant killers" case, and was arrested with 34 other men, accused of making up a terrorist organization, recalls Lalibre.be. The following year, Abdelqader Belliraj was sentenced to life imprisonment in Morocco in 2009.
Last Friday, his wife, Rachida Hatti, spoke out. According to her, her husband would be held in abusive solitary confinement for more than three years. Indeed, Rachida Hatti, who is outraged by the inhuman suffering inflicted on her husband, said that the Belgo-Moroccan prisoner, detained in the Toulal 2 prison in Meknes, would be deprived of any contact with the other inmates, and worse, "allowed to leave his cell for only one hour a day since May 2016". And to add that she herself is not allowed to speak to her husband on the phone.
Human Rights Watch has denounced these detention conditions which, if proven, would constitute a serious violation of international rules on the treatment of prisoners. The NGO indicates that it has written to the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights since November 12, which in turn has forwarded its correspondence to the Moroccan prison administration.
Human Rights Watch has once again denounced the life sentence imposed on Belliraj. According to the human rights organization, it was "based on his confessions and those of his co-defendants", which "would have been obtained under torture".