Morocco: Drop Criminal Charges Against Rights Defender, Journalist

Al-Jazeeras Rabat bureau chief Hassan Rachidi and rights defender Brahim Sabalil go on trial July 1 before the Rabat Court of First Instance on charges of disseminating false information. The court will reportedly open a second trial of Sabalil later in the day for disseminating false information in a separate incident.  
 
Police arrested Sabalil on June 27, a day after he took part in a press conference in Rabat, at which he presented evidence alleging human rights violations by security forces trying to quell sometimes violent protests in the southern city of Sidi Ifni that began June 7. The forces intervened to break up a protesters blockade of the citys port.  
 
Authorities should want to find out the truth about the extent of police abuse in Sidi Ifni, said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. They should allow an open discussion about the incident instead of using repressive laws to shoot the messenger.  
 
On June 27, several men came to Sabalils Rabat home at about 1:30 a.m., saying they were police but without presenting identification or a warrant, his wife, Khadija Sared, told Al-Jarida al-Oula daily. She said the men took him away to an unknown destination.  
 
Sabalil is president of the Sidi Ifni section of the Moroccan Center for Human Rights (Centre Marocain des droits humains, CMDH), an independent organization that has provided ongoing information about human rights conditions in Sidi Ifni, where protests erupted largely over economic grievances. Sabalil is also a member of the CMDHs executive committee.  

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