“We hoped he would be granted innocence, as he committed no crime,” said a member of the Moroccan Committee for the Support of Political Prisoners. [Getty]
A Moroccan court has released Ismail Lghazaoui, a prominent pro-Palestine activist, following an international outcry that called for his freedom.
Lghazaoui, a member of Morocco’s Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, was freed on 5 February after an appeal court in Casablanca reduced his sentence to two months in prison, which he has already served.
The 34-year-old activist had been sentenced to one year in prison in December for calling for a blockade of the US embassy over its support for Israel. He was charged with “incitement to commit crimes and misdemeanours using electronic means.”
“We hoped he would be granted innocence, as he committed no crime—he was simply exercising his right to free speech”, said Mohammed Nouini, a member of the Moroccan Committee for the Support of Political Prisoners, speaking to The New Arab.
Lghazaoui’s detention on 19 November 2024 came just days after he called on Tangier port workers and the public to block two Maersk cargo ships believed to be transporting military equipment to Israel.
The activist had also advocated for a blockade of the US embassy during an October protest in Casablanca, accusing Washington of enabling Israel’s actions in Gaza.
In the lead-up to his appeal trial, BDS groups across the globe released statements and videos demanding his release, denouncing what they saw as an effort by Moroccan authorities to criminalise opposition to the normalisation of relations with Israel.
Outside the Oukacha prison in Casablanca, dozens of pro-Palestine activists gathered to greet Lghazaoui upon his release.
His mother, who played a pivotal role in the campaign for his freedom, used the occasion to call for the release of other pro-Palestine detainees and urged people to continue speaking out.
“I call for the release of all prisoners of conscience and for the liberation of all Palestinian hostages in Israeli prisons”, she told reporters while waiting for her son’s release.
As Lghazaoui emerged from the prison gates, the crowd, waving keffiyehs and Palestinian flags, erupted in chants of “Your only crime is speaking the truth.”
Since the outbreak of the Gaza war, more than ten anti-normalisation activists in Morocco have faced legal proceedings.
Last December, a Moroccan court sentenced 13 pro-Palestine activists to six months of suspended prison time for taking part in unauthorised protests targeting Carrefour, a French retailer allegedly linked to Israeli companies operating in illegal settlements.
In April 2024, Abdul Rahman Zankad was sentenced to five years in prison for Facebook posts criticising Israel’s actions in Gaza and Morocco’s normalisation of ties with Tel Aviv.
Similarly, in November 2023, activist Said Boukioud received a three-year sentence for social media posts condemning the monarchy and the normalisation agreement.
Morocco and Israel established diplomatic relations in December 2020, under the US auspices.
Since then, local pro-Palestine groups have accused the Moroccan government of using “unprecedented measures” to suppress dissent and protect its normalisation agreement with Israel despite its genocide in Gaza.
