Moroccan Historian and Human Rights Activist Arrested
The Moroccan Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASDHOM) is scandalized by the arrest and unjustified detention of the Moroccan historian and human rights activist Maâti Monjib. ASDHOM has set up a defense committee and invites you to sign the following statement.
Professor Monjib was arrested under scandalous conditions on 29 December 2020 as he was sitting down to lunch with his friend Abdelatif el Hamamouchi in a restaurant in Hassan quarter of Rabat, Morocco. El Hamamouchi testifies that the attack took place very quickly.
Monjib was literally kidnapped by eight plainclothes policemen who arrived in two cars. Professor Monjib’s humiliating kidnapping—which took place without any warrant or basis in law—was designed to discredit him before public opinion, although Prof. Monjib has always respected the law.
This extremely serious police action comes after five years of judicial and police persecution, which has gotten worse from year to year. Maâti Monjib was summoned to court for the first time in November 2015. Since then, he has been hauled into court twenty times. Their purpose was to harass him. All these summonses were based on false accusations made up out of whole cloth, which changed from month to month.
First, he was accused of “undermining State Security,” but that didn’t work because there was not the least bit of evidence. He then was accused without evidence of “money laundering.” The goal was to create the appearance of a criminal “Monjib case” although it was in fact an attack on this notable human rights activist. Despite these defamatory attacks, Prof. Monjib has consistently respected the law and appeared at all the judicial hearings.
At the same time as these accusations and judicial hearings, Prof. Monjib has also been forbidden to leave Moroccan territory, to teach and give lectures, or to attend international academic conferences.
Maâti Monjib’s arrest must be placed in the context of the conviction of several journalists, human rights activists from the Rif region, and active citizens whose only “crime” is to fight for democracy and social justice. Thus Morocco demonstrates that it is declining into an authoritarian and repressive political system.
We, the undersigned, denounce the arbitrary and scandalous arrest of Professor Maâti Monjib and proclaim his innocence loudly and clearly. We demand the immediate release of Maâti Monjib and the end of all unjust proceedings against him. Our struggle in favor of Prof. Monjib is determined. Our mobilization continues with ever more determination. Please join us.
–Moroccan Association for the Defense of Human Rights, 31 December 2020
To sign petition and to see full list of signatories and more information and links, visit https://maatimonjib.net/.