Prison authorities say Hirak detainees were not subjected to ill-treatment or torture

Hirak detainees held at the Ras El Ma prison in Fez were not subjected to any ill-treatment or torture, said the General Delegation for Prison Administration and Reintegration (DGAPR).

In a statement released Monday, the DGAPR responded to Nasser Zefzafi’s father who alleged that the inmates held at said prison suffered ill-treatment and torture. Prison authorities said that contrary to allegations, the same detainees assaulted a number of prison employees and refused to comply with the orders and return to their cells.

Given the offenses they have committed and in order to preserve the security of the institution and its inmates, disciplinary measures were taken against them by transferring them to other areas inside the same institution or to other prisons, while placing them in disciplinary cells, the same source added.

This decision came after an audio of Nasser Zefzafi was leaked to social media last week. In this audio recording Zefzafi addressed the desecration of the national flag in Paris, the Hirak movement and alleged reports on torture and rape.

Shortly after the emergence of this audio, prison authorities said in a communiqué, Friday, that «an administrative inquiry» has been launched to «investigate the recording attributed» to Nasser Zefzafi.