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| Africa North |
| Moroccan activist El-Khayari receives 3-year prison term |
| 2009-06-26 |
| [Maghrebia] A Casablanca court on Wednesday (June 24th) sentenced Chakib El-Khayari, president of the Rif Human Rights Association (ARDH), to 3 years in prison for offences against the authorities, violations of law on exchange and unauthorized transfer of funds to bank accounts abroad, Kabyle.com reported. The court also ordered Khayari to pay a fine of 753.930 dirhams. El-Khayari, also a member of the Federal Council of the World Amazigh Congress (CMA), had criticised the Moroccan government for dismantling an international drug trafficking network in the city of Nador, claiming that the "campaign targeted the small-time traffickers and excluded the icons of political corruption and officials assuming sensitive positions in the state". Khayari who is known as a fierce critic of the government's anti-drug policies, was arrested on February 17th in Casablanca. His detention was denounced by international watchdog group Human Rights Watch. |
| Posted by:Fred |