A Moroccan student arrested during recent youth-led demonstrations has been sentenced to one year in prison, his lawyer confirmed on Friday.
The conviction is the first publicly known prison sentence linked to the Gen Z-led protests, which swept across Morocco from late September to early October, calling for social and political reforms.
According to the student’s lawyer, Mohamed Nouini, his client was found guilty of “participating in an unauthorised and unarmed gathering” and “insulting the judicial police by providing false information.” Nouini described the verdict as “unfair” and said an appeal would be filed.
He argued that peaceful sit-ins do not require prior authorisation under a precedent set by Morocco’s Supreme Court.
The lawyer said his client was arrested on September 30, three days after the protests began. Another lawyer, Mohamed Lakhdar, told the court that the student’s arrest was a coincidence, as he was visiting family in Casablanca at the time. Lakhdar also denied claims that the student had insulted or misled the police.
The youth-led demonstrations, largely peaceful but occasionally marked by unrest, have resulted in hundreds of arrests. Authorities said three people were killed in clashes near Agadir when police acted in “self-defence.”
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) reported that about 550 people are currently facing prosecution for participating in the protests, with some still in detention.
The GenZ 212 youth collective, which organised the online-driven movement, remains anonymous but has called for renewed “peaceful sit-ins” on Saturday and demanded the release of detained protesters.
The demonstrations were initially sparked by outrage over the deaths of eight pregnant women during Caesarean sections at a hospital in Agadir but have since expanded to include calls for education reform and a change of government.
