(ANSAmed) – RABAT, MAY 17 – Nine years have passed since May 16 2003, the day that Casablanca became stained with blood in a series of terrorist attacks that left 41 people dead. The wound caused by the first international terror attacks in the Kingdom remains an open one, with uncertainty still hanging over the real perpetrators of the massacre.
The president of the Moroccan Human Rights Association, Khadija Riyadi, has told the newspaper Le Soir Echos that the trial was unfaithful and that the Moroccan judiciary should make public the true version of events. “A large number of those arrested have nothing to do with terrorism or fundamentalism,” she said. “As far as the trial is concerned, once again nothing was respected, neither the presumption of innocence, nor the dignity of individuals. We demand a fair trial. Those detained in connection with the May 16 attacks need to stand trial again.
All Moroccans want to know the truth”. Riyadi has also condemned the conditions faced by the May 16 detainees. “They have been on hunger strike since April 9. Since 2003, they have clearly experienced the lead years of Hassan II’s reign. They have been tortured and sent to the Temara detention centre. Even the King has recognised this in his speeches. He has said that there were failures in the application of the law and of justice in this case, but no action has subsequently been taken”.
From his cell, one of the men presumed to have been involved in the attack, Mohamed El Omari, has written two letters repeating his innocence, swearing in the first that he did not know that the bag he was carrying contained explosives and claiming in the second that he still does not know why he was arrested following the May 16 attacks and knew nothing about them.
Anas El Halou, a member of the committee of support for Islamist prisoners, also made comments to Le Soir Echos. “Even we within the committee do not know why these people were arrested and who the people really behind these attacks are. The day after the attacks, the state arrested almost 11,000 people.
Some have been freed. Today, there are around 700 prisoners still behind bars”. Morocco’s Justice Minister, Mustapha Ramid, has been more simplistic and categorical on the matter. “Justice has been done,” he said. “Some have been freed because they are innocent, others remain in prison because they are guilty. Should the judiciary free all of those who say that they are innocent? I don’t think so”. (ANSAmed).
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