An appeal court in Morocco has upheld the prison sentences of dozens of activists who protested against injustice and unemployment, sparking accusations of corruption against the country’s judiciary. Yesterday, the court in the western city of Casablanca rejected the appeals of 42 protesters linked to the Hirak Rif movement, based in the Berber-speaking Rif region of northern Morocco, who were jailed in June last year. The authorities accused the activists of being separatists. this trial has been unfair since the start and that is how it has ended,” said Souad Brahma, a defence lawyer in the case. Nabila Mounib, a Moroccan politician from the left-wing Unified Socialist Party, added: “It’s the politics of fear, which has been operating…

Source: The Times April 06, 2019 11:03 UTC