The administration of Al Arjat 1 local prison (east of Rabat) rejected on Monday the Moroccan Association for Human Rights’ claim over the weekend that prisoner Mohamed Ziane is still on a hunger strike. This comes after the prison issued a press release on Friday stating that the prisoner had ended his hunger strike.
The prison administration said that the inmate had been advised to end his hunger strike to save his life and that Ziane had submitted a written notice on Friday morning declaring that he had ended it. Since then, according to the statement, Ziane has been receiving and consuming regular meals.
The prison condemned what it called “attempts to deceive certain groups and individuals who exploit such matters for their own questionable agendas.” It said, “such actions diminish their credibility in the eyes of the public due to their repeated dissemination of falsehoods and fabrication of events.”
Ziane, a lawyer now aged 78, was tried on December 9, 2021, on charges including “contempt of court” and “adultery” following a complaint lodged against him earlier in the year by Morocco’s Ministry of the Interior. He faced a total of eleven charges, including “contempt of public officials and the judiciary,” “insulting a constituted body,” “defamation,” “adultery,” and “sexual harassment.” He was sentenced to three years in prison on February 23, 2022.
In November 2020, Ziane accused the Moroccan security services of fabricating a video that depicted him and a married client in a compromising situation in a hotel room.
In response to these accusations, the Ministry of the Interior filed a complaint in January 2021, citing “concrete material facts” constituting the “offense” caused to state institutions through the dissemination of baseless accusations and allegations, which are crimes under Morocco’s Criminal Code.
Ziane was also implicated in a case involving a Moroccan national residing in the UAE, who accused him of fraudulent activities.