Morocco: 26 appeal against sabotage charges

Morocco's public prosecutor on Friday referred 26 people to the Court of Appeal in the central Moroccan city of Khouribga, a major phosphate reserve. Meanwhile, the appeals court in Al-Hoceima, a north Moroccan city on the Mediterranean, ruled to ease sentences made by the Primary Court, in favour of 14 defendants, and upheld the judgment for one of them. The case was centred on events in Bani Bouayach, a city in the far north of Morocco. The accused were arrested and tried on charges of sabotage, arson and assault on police officers during a protest demanding jobs in front of the National Moroccan Phosphates Company offices in the city, said officials in Khouribga. The source added: "Thirty-one people were arrested before five were released, including a press photographer, while the rest remained in custody for injuring the officers and causing physical damage to police vehicles and the National Moroccan Phosphates Company."