An activist is sentenced to three months in prison in Morocco for criticizing the response to the 2023 earthquake

MADRID Jan. 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –

A Moroccan court has sentenced an activist who criticized the response of the authorities of the African country to the earthquake registered in September 2023 in the province of Al Haouz, which left around 3,000 dead, to three months in prison for “defamation” .

According to information collected by the independent Moroccan media ENASS, the activist Said Ait Mehdi, president of the Coordination of Victims of the Earthquake in Al Haouz, has been sentenced by a court of first instance in the city of Marrakech.

Thus, the man has also been sentenced to pay a fine of 500 dirhams (around 50 euros), a verdict that comes less after his arrest by the security forces in Duad Tadfalat for a complaint for “insults” and ” attacks”.

The aforementioned earthquake left nearly 3,000 dead and caused enormous material devastation in the area. Since then, the organization headed by Ait Mehdi has called on the authorities to accelerate reconstruction efforts and increase their aid to the victims.