Moroccan prison guards subject Western Sahara rights defender to acts of intimidation

01/06/2008 | Newsletter, Political Prisoners

Moroccan guards at a prison in Marrakesh subjected a Western Saharan rights activist to an act of intimidation. The day before yesterday, Friday, May 30, 2008 (around 15h: 00 GMT) Mr. Ennaâma ASFARI was surprised by a sudden and violent visit to his cell by guards who took everything that was in his possession.

Mr. Ennaâma ASFARI is a Sahrawi human rights defender and co-chairman of the Committee for the Respect of Liberties and Human Rights in Western Sahara (CORELSO) currently serving a sentence in Boulemharez prison, Marrakesh, Morocco. He does not know the reason why his prison cell was targeted and his possessions confiscated.

Mr. ASFARI will appear before the appellate court on Tuesday, June 2, 2008. He was originally arrested on April 13, 2008, in Marrakesh, Morocco. After being transported to various detention centers, where he suffered maltreatment, he was presented to the general prosecutor on April 15 and has been detained since April 17, 2008 at the Boulemharez prison in Marrakesh. On April 28, 2008, a court of Morocco sentenced Mr. ASFARI to two months’ imprisonment and a fine of three thousand Moroccan dirhams (3.000.00) by the court of first instance of Marrakesh on the basis of the following charges:
- Driving in a state of drunkenness
- Possession of a weapon (a knife)
- Having hit a motorist in the eye following a car crash.

Mr. ASFARI, during the trial of first instance refuted the accusations of the court, maintaining that he was detained on the basis of his political positions in relation to the ongoing Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara.

The defencce of Mr. ASFARI during the trial of first instance, focused on violations of the Moroccan Penal Code which guarantees the detainee’s right to prevent immediately a family member (which has not been done in the case of Mr. ASFARI) and protection of the physical integrity of the detainees (Mr. ASFARI was beaten before putting him in the police car and was tortured in an unknown location and he was not allowed to see a doctor). The defence also pointed out the contradictions between the witness and the complainant and emphasized the absence of evidence (the complainant denied seeing Mr. ASFARI with a knife, no medical analysis has been conducted to prove intoxication).