Activists face riot police in the capital of Morocco

Morocco activists faced riot police.

Last Tuesday, October 6th, dozens of activists gathered outside the Moroccan parliament in the city of Rabat. They say they went to denounce the “incompetence” of the Saudi government in managing the pilgrimage (Hajj).

Morocco activists

September 24, 2015 nineteen Moroccans have reportedly been killed. 27 others have gone missing in Mina stampede.

The sit-in, which started peacefully, escalated quickly when one of the protesters tried to display a banner.

According to the video shot by the correspondent of Hespress, officers were not shy in expressing aggression towards the youth.

The video shows three police officers aggressively seizing the banner and insulting the protester as he attempted to display it.

When more riot police arrived on the scene, they followed the protesters trying to shame them. They reportedly repeatedly hitting and kicking the activists.

“Our brothers and sisters died in Mina because of Saudi Arabia’s bad organization [of the Hajj],” shouted a female protester as she was being forced to leave the square.

“This is shame… This is shame… Our country fears the petrodollar,” she added.

Amina Terrass, one of the organizers of the sit-in told Morocco World News that riot police turned out to be more violent as journalists left the scene.

“The police started beating us with unprecedented violence. They threw me to the ground and kicked me,” she said.

“The gathering was broken up before it could even start, banner confiscated, they drove us into smaller streets and beat us mildly while journalists and cameras were around. Dispersing did nothing to stop the beating, it only meant that police forces divided themselves into small gangs and each one chased a different individual or small group,” Amina posted on her Facebook page the next day.

“We were then forced to buy train tickets, the police beat us as we stood in line to buy the tickets.They beat us and pushed us down the stairs to where we would wait for the train.

They beat us for about a quarter hour until the train came.”

According to the Morrocan Daily, families of the missing pilgrims are in the process of filing the lawsuit against the Saudi state before international courts.

“The Moroccan Embassy in Riyadh informs that efforts are underway to search and identify Moroccan missing pilgrims under the supervision of Mohamed Boussaid, Minister of Economy and Finance, Chairman of the Moroccan official delegation for hajj and the president of the Moroccan pilgrims office in the presence of HM the King’s Ambassador in Riyadh”, the embassy pointed out in a statement.

It is uncertain if police officers will be held accountable for their behavior.

With additional reporting from Amine Boukhliq.