Moroccan activist Maati Monjib has been in custody since December 29, his lawyers have not been informed of the charges. He has now gone on a hunger strike. The Netherlands and the EU must do everything to get him released.
Maati Monjib, a Moroccan academic and activist with whom PAX collaborated between 2000 and 2012, has gone on a 48-hour hunger strike along with prisoners of the Rif movement to protest against the Moroccan suppression of freedom of expression, assembly and protest.
We have come to know Maati Monjib as a tireless activist for democracy and media freedom in Morocco. We supported him when he organized the human rights debate between the major Islamic movement and Moroccan human and women’s rights organizations, an open and necessary debate that was unique in the Arab world. The Moroccan authorities have been attacking Maati Monjib for years because of his criticism of the repression of freedoms, of corruption and his support for the Rif activists. A case was filed against Maati Monjib 2015 and has been pending since, having been postponed 22 times. He also became the target of smear campaigns. Dutch newspaper NRC last Friday reported on the Dutch link with his case. A false accusation of fraud with financing for projects from the Netherlands has been cited several times as one of the reasons for prosecution.
Stop the repression of activists
PAX calls on the Netherlands and the EU to do everything in their power to ensure that the Moroccan authorities drop the charges against Maati Monjib and release him unconditionally. The false fraud accusation is all the more reason for the Dutch embassy to appeal to the Moroccan authorities. PAX also calls on the Netherlands and the EU to prioritise the increasing repression of activists in their policies towards Morocco.
Sign the petition for the release of Maati Monjib.