Alwaght- Thousands of Moroccans have poured onto the streets of northern Casablanca city Sunday in protest against the ruling regime's continued detention of rights activists who raised their voice for marginalized al-Rif region.
Hundreds of activists have been incarcerated in the country since fishmonger Mohsen Fikri died after being crushed by a refuse truck in the flashpoint city of Al-Hoceima on Oct. 28, 2016.
According to one estimate, more than 300 people were being held following what is now known as the al-Rif Movement that came about following Fikri’s death. Some of the activists in jail are said to be on hunger strike.
During the protest on Sunday, people chanted several slogans "freedom for all detainees" and "people want to fight corruption".
The Moroccan government maintains that the solution to the crisis is through political and developmental means.
Leading figures in the opposition movement al-Hirak are set to go on trial in Casablanca on October 17. No trial date has been set for the movement's leader Nasser Zefzafi, who was detained in late May after a dramatic manhunt.
Rif has long had a tense relationship with the central authorities in Rabat, and it was at the heart of the Islamic awakening-inspired protests in Morocco in February 2011.
The government has promised development projects for the region, which has a long history of rebellion against Morocco's leaders. King Hassan II, the father of monarch Mohammed VI, never visited the Al-Rif region, something his son changed.
