Thousands of Moroccans keep up pressure over fishmonger’s death

AL-HOCEIMA, Morocco, (Reuters) – Thousands of chanting, flag-waving Moroccans protested in a northern city yesterday, keeping up pressure on authorities a week after a fishmonger was crushed to death in a garbage truck in a confrontation with police. The death of Mouhcine Fikri has prompted a week of street protests in some of the biggest and longest challenges to authority in the North African kingdom since pro-reform demonstrations broke out during the 2011 Arab Spring.

Thousands waved candles, flags in the local Amazigh language and banners used by the resistance against Spanish and French colonization, while chanting slogans against the Makhzen, a term used to describe the royal establishment and its allies.

Five years after the pro-democracy rallies shook Morocco, this week’s unrest has been a reminder of the frustrations the monarchy managed to tame in the past with limited constitutional reforms, heavy welfare spending and tough security.

Friday’s evening funeral followed by the demonstration was the latest in a series of rallies that started a week ago, packing a downtown square of Al-Hoceima, where many see Fikri as a symbol of abuses by officials, corruption and injustice.

“We are very sad, the Makhzen is killing us,” the crowd chanted in the Amazigh language before switching to Arabic with “The people want those who killed the martyr.”

The rally took place a day after the interior minister played down the unrest, saying the king had already responded to the demands by launching a deep investigation.

Morocco, a Western partner in the war against Islamist militancy, presents itself as a model of stability and gradual reform since 2011 in a region where jihadist violence and political turmoil have become the norm.

Public anger echoes Tunisia’s own 2011 uprising when a street vendor set himself on fire over police abuses and triggered a revolt that swept Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali from power and started the Arab Spring.

Unlike Tunisia, though, Morocco’s protests and those in 2011 never directly challenged the deep-rooted monarchy, the Muslim world’s longest-serving dynasty. Instead, they called for reforms and an end to official abuses.

This week’s protests have been peaceful and police have kept a distance in a country where political protests are rare and usually heavily policed.

“Fikri died in a horrific way, and we are out to tell the Makhzen that crime will not go unanswered,” said Loubna Obari, waving a candle.