Morocco charges more than 2,400 people over Gen Z protests

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Morocco has charged more than 2,400 people over recent youth-led protests that turned violent, a sweeping response to some of the country’s largest anti-government demonstrations in years.

Of the 2,480 charged, 1,473 people remain in custody awaiting trial. Charges included armed rebellion, insulting and using violence against a public official exercising his duties, and incitement to commit felonies.

The demonstrations took Morocco by surprise after a youth-led movement called Gen Z 212 mobilized thousands across the country to protest the state of public services. The movement, organized on social media platforms like Discord, criticized government spending on infrastructure to host sporting events while neglecting social services.

Though organizers urged peaceful demonstrations, protests turned violent in some cities and towns, leaving three dead, injuring many others and damaging shops and cars. Rights groups criticized authorities’ heavy-handed approach toward the demonstrators, but the public prosecutor said interventions were carried out legally.

The wave of arrests has alarmed human rights groups and become an additional rallying cry for demonstrators, who have at recent protests held signs for those arrested for attending protests. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights has denounced the arrests and called them random, while Gen Z 212 has demanded the release of all the protests’ detainees.

“Those calling for a fair chance for their future should not be met with lethal force and repression,” Human Rights Watch’s Associate Director Hanan Salah said last week in a statement.

Those arrested include Hamza Raid, a Moroccan rapper who was detained in Casablanca last month, whose lyrics often touch on politics and channel youth anger.

Three of the accused appeared in court on Monday before a presiding judge in the capital, Rabat, charged with incitement to commit felonies and insulting an official body after they printed activist slogans on Morocco’s soccer team jerseys, their attorneys told The Associated Press. They could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

Before a crowded court room, the attorneys made an application for bail for their clients – two college students and a print shop worker – who they said could be harmed after doing little to justify their arrests.

The public prosecutor said more than 400 people were condemned, with sentences ranging from one to 15 years. It added that 34 people were acquitted of all charges. — Sam Metz contributed reporting from Rabat, Morocco.