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At least two people were arrested on Friday in Al Hoceima, core of the contest movement that has shaken the northern region of Morocco for than 7 months, reports AFP according to reliable sources.
A journalist present on-site stated that three persons were arrested during the day including the publishing director of online newspaper RifPress, Mohammed Al Hilali. A member of local authorities confirmed two arrests to the French news agency.
More than a hundred people have been questioned by the police since late May in Al Hoceima, in a wave of arrests targeting the hardcore members of the Hirak, which for months have been claiming a fairer and more inclusive development for the Rif.
Its main leaders, including Nasser Zefzafi, have been imprisoned in Casablanca and are accused of «interference with internal security». Five of them, including Zefzafi and Nabil Ahamjik, protest against the conditions of their detention and threatened to go on a three-day hunger strike, their lawyers said on Friday.
«Food of poor quality, isolation, duration of visits limited to 10 minutes ... The fundamental rights of the prisoners are not respected,» claimed lawyer Rachid Benali, coordinator of the Committee of defense of the prisoners of Al Hoceima.
«They are in solitary confinement, which is a punitive measure even though they have not yet been tried,» said Abdessadek El Bouchtaoui, another lawyer speaking on behalf of the detainees.
The prison administration had insisted in a statement about the «scrupulously respect» of the rights of prisoners, rejecting «rumors that they would be on hunger strike».
The first hearings will begin on Monday in Casablanca and will span over the course of nearly a month, with the hearing of Zefzafi scheduled for the 10th of July. The defendents' judicial representatives will demand the provisional release of the militants, according to Benali.
