Morocco’s opposition pushes for ex-human rights minister release

Morocco’s opposition parties are ramping up pressure on King Mohammed VI to pardon Mohamed Ziane, an 81-year-old former Human Rights Minister, who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in a case that rights groups deemed politically motivated.  

Over the weekend, the Justice and Development Party (PJD), an Islamist opposition group, publicly urged the monarch to weigh “the circumstances of Ziane and the humanitarian challenges.”  

Ziane, a seasoned lawyer and founder of the Moroccan Liberal Party (PML), was sentenced to five years in 2023 on charges of corruption and embezzlement during Morocco’s 2015 election campaign.

His son and attorney, Ali Reda Ziane, categorically denies the charges, describing the trial as a form of retribution for Ziane’s high-profile defence of journalists, political prisoners, and activists critical of the state.  

This latest sentence compounds an earlier three-year verdict issued in 2022, which found Ziane guilty of 11 charges, including defamation, adultery, and insulting a public official.

Rights groups have widely condemned the proceedings as unfair and politically motivated, with the Moroccan Association in Support of Political Prisoners labelling the case an effort “to humiliate and silence” Ziane.  

Once a senior civil servant and Minister of Human Rights from 1995 to 1996, Ziane has in recent years gained notoriety for his scathing critiques of the Moroccan state, particularly its intelligence services.

He was among those profiled in a 2022 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accusing Morocco of a harsh crackdown on dissent.  

Moroccan opposition parties have long advocated for royal pardons for Ziane and other prisoners linked to political dissent, including those detained during the 2016 Hirak Rif protests—a grassroots movement in the marginalised Rif region that called for social justice and economic development.  

In the wake of the protests, hundreds of demonstrators, including movement leader Nasser Zefzafi, were imprisoned.

Zefzafi received a 20-year sentence on charges of “undermining public order and threatening national unity.”

‘Dissent has a price’

Calls for his release have repeatedly surfaced, including a failed 2022 parliamentary amnesty bill introduced by the Moroccan Socialist Party.  

King Mohammed VI, who holds the exclusive power to issue royal pardons, has historically used this authority to mark national and religious occasions.

Last year, the monarch pardoned several jailed critics, including journalists, as part of his 25th-anniversary celebrations on the throne. The next pardon will be granted in the Eid after Ramadan in April.

However, such pardons often require detainees to formally request forgiveness and pledge not to repeat their actions, a process viewed by many activists as an additional layer of humiliation.  

“The detainees should request a pardon, and His Majesty the King, who is the father of all, knows the public interest and the greater good,” Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi stressed to the Moroccan parliament when questioned about the case in 2023.

For local activists, “this is not just about one man […] It’s about sending a message: dissent has a price,” said a member of the Moroccan Association in Support of Political Prisoners, speaking about the freedoms in the North African country.

Last year, “the crackdown on dissent also targeted more than ten activists in pro-Palestine groups,” who faced jail sentences of up to five years for protesting Rabat’s normalisation with Israel, according to the local group.