Aljazeera trial postponed, Sidi Ifni rights leader arrested

02/07/2008

The defence team representing Aljazeera bureau chief Hassan Rachidi has been granted additional time to prepare, and rights activist Brahim Sab'alil was arrested after reiterating claims of police abuse in Sidi Ifni.

Naoufel Cherkaoui in Rabat contributed to this report – 02/07/08

[Naoufel Cherkaoui] The arrest of human rights activist Brahim Sab'alil preceded Aljazeera Rabat bureau chief Hassan Rachidi's request to postpone his trial on charges of disseminating "false information".

A court of first instance in Rabat decided on Tuesday (July 1st) to postpone until Friday the trial of Hassan Rachidi, Aljazeera's bureau chief in Rabat. The defence made the request to postpone in order to have more time to prepare.

Rachidi faces charges of disseminating "false information" after the Qatar-based television network broadcast reports from Rabat stating that between six and ten people had died in clashes between youths and the police in the port city of Sidi Ifni on June 7th. The authorities denied the deaths.

The decision by Rachidi's defence team to request more time to prepare follows the arrest of Brahim Sab'alil, head of the Sidi Ifni branch of the Moroccan Centre for Human Rights (CMDH).

On Thursday (June 26th), in order to mark World Anti-Torture Day, Sab'alil gave a press conference in Rabat in which he presented the testimony of witnesses claiming that several people were killed during the events of "Black Saturday" and that there were several cases of disappearance and rape at the hands of the security forces. Sab'alil described the public authorities' intervention as "crimes against humanity".

Later that night, "a security force consisting of more than 10 personnel arrested […] Sab'alil from his home," a CMDH statement said. Sab'alil's wife, Khadija Sared, told Al-Jarida al-Oula that the men arrived at 1:30am, saying they were police, but presented no identification or arrest warrant. They took him away to an unknown destination, she added.

"We consider it an arbitrary arrest and a kind of persecution against human rights activists," CMDH President Khalid Cherkaoui Semmouni told Magharebia. "It is natural that those people obtain information, which they convey to the public, and the authorities have to check the correctness of such information."

An investigation by nine parliamentary deputies, including two women, concluded on June 17th that "no death or rape cases were documented" in the Sidi Ifni events.

The Moroccan security authorities have reportedly said that the "arrest of Brahim Sab'alil was made following the press conference in which he made false accusations about the events that took place in Sidi Ifni."

"It's clear that there are some other considerations that led to the arrest of Sab'alil that have nothing to do with what he said in the press conference," concluded Semmouni.

Like the Aljazeera bureau chief, Sab'ali also faces trial this month for spreading "false information".

Mohammed Sadeku, one of Sab'alil's lawyers, said: "In the first hearing, we shall call for a temporary release until we review the lawsuit file. We shall focus on our request to make the court hear the victims. We shall also ask the court to conduct an in-depth investigation into the Sidi Ifni events as crimes against humanity."

International NGO Human Rights Watch has called for the charges against Rachidi and Sab'alil to be dropped, describing the two men's prosecution as "incompatible with Morocco’s commitment to respect freedom of expression, no matter where the ultimate truth lies".

"Authorities should want to find out the truth about the extent of police abuse in Sidi Ifni," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the organisation's Middle East and North Africa director. "They should allow an open discussion about the incident instead of using repressive laws to 'shoot the messenger.'"