Imprisonment of Mohamed Zayan, former Minister of Human Rights

Muhammad Zayan considers himself “condemned for his opinions.” The Moroccan opponent was the former president of lace Minister of Human Rights between 1995 and 1996, he was arrested and imprisoned on Monday evening after he was sentenced on appeal to three years in prison.

“He was transferred to Al-Arjat prison. He was not legally notified (of his conviction) and never appeared,” Ali Reza Zayan, himself a lawyer and defending his father, criticized. “He was found guilty (by the Rabat Court of Appeal) of all possible and conceivable charges.” After that, the Public Prosecution confirmed that “the competent judicial police, and based on the instructions of the Public Prosecutor, arrested the person concerned and imprisoned him in implementation of the provisions of the appeal decision.”

Advocate for the movement

He said shortly before his arrest that he “never received a summons to appear”. His son denounced “the gear against [s]His father since he took a stand in favor rural movement A powerful social movement shook this barbarian mountain region in 2016-2017. Celebrity lawyer Mohamed Zayan, 79, also defended Tawfiq Bouachrine, the opposition media chief who has been imprisoned since 2018 after serving 15 years in prison for “sexual assaults” on eight women, charges he is still facing. .

The lawyer was tried, according to a complaint from the Ministry of Interior, on 11 charges, including “insulting a formed body”, “defamation”, “adultery” or “sexual harassment”. He was sentenced on 23 February to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 dirhams (470 euros), but was released.

criticism of the intelligence services

For its part, the Moroccan Committee for the Support of Prisoners of Conscience said it was “deeply shocked”. “His appeal trial was held during a single hearing, without giving President Zayan the opportunity to defend himself,” this gathering of human rights defenders criticized. human rights. “He was arrested by more than twenty plainclothes police officers who stormed his office (…) without expressing any judicial ruling, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Constitution and international covenants.”

Moroccan Liberal Party founder and senior civil servant Mohamed Zayan made himself known with his statements critical of the authorities, particularly the Moroccan intelligence services. In November 2020, the former president accused the security services of “faking” a video clip to present an interview between him and a married client in a hotel room in a compromising manner. At the time, the head of police and internal intelligence, Abdellatif Hammouchi, was accused of being responsible for “manipulating” the photos.