Morocco : A Sahrawi activist sentenced to seven months in prison

In Laayoune, separatist activist Ali Salem Boudjemaa Saadouni was sentenced to seven months in prison and a 5,000-dirham fine for «possession of drugs for personal use» and for «assault on a public agent», says EFE.

According to sources quoted by the Spanish agency EFE, this conviction comes after the man in question participated in a series of independentist actions in the city, alongside a group of «Saharawis who reject Moroccan citizenship».

Indeed, Ali Saadouni was arrested on April 11, a day after his participation in a demonstration during which he brandished a flag of the «Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR)» in an avenue in Laayoune. His action was filmed and published on one of his social network accounts.

On April 25, the Front’s press agency SPS reported that the Moroccan authorities had intervened to disperse a pro-Polisario protest, held during the hearings of this trial to call for the release of the separatist militant.