Morocco jails activist for 12 years

The charges against Bashir Benshaib, 32, who was sentenced by an appeals court in Al-Hoceima on Monday, included blocking a road, theft, aggression and drug dealing, Faisal Ousser of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) told AFP.
 
Benshaib had been detained since March last year when he was arrested after taking part in a protest near Al-Hoceima in northern Morocco.
 
"We were very surprised by the severity of this revenge ruling, and by the use of the judiciary to punish young people asking for dignity," said Ousser, who attended the trial.
 
"This government and the justice minister have clearly demonstrated that they have no respect for human rights, not even the simple right to protest," he added.
 
Justice Minister Mustapha Ramid said he was unable to comment on Monday's court ruling, when contacted by AFP, because he did not know the details of the case.
 
Since early last year, Morocco has witnessed sporadic social unrest, spearheaded by the February 20 protest movement demanding action on a wide range of social grievances and calling in particular for an end to corruption.
 
Increasingly, the group has also called for the release of fellow activists, 20 of whom have been jailed in Al-Hoceima alone, amid concerns by UN officials and rights groups about the fairness of the trials and the treatment of political detainees.
 
At their most recent protest, on September 23, hundreds of February 20 activists marched in Rabat to demand the prosecution of officials linked to corruption, instead of the "vengeance trials" of activists.
 
Earlier this month, up to a thousand magistrates held a sit-in outside the Court of Cassation in the capital calling for an end to corruption in the judicial system.